Yaxel Lendeborg had just answered a late three-pointer, pushing UAB’s slim lead to five points with a little more than two minutes remaining, but Eric Gaines was needed to put the finishing touches on a hard-earned road win.

Without a single point, but also no turnovers, Gaines drove inside the lane and hop-stepped through a defender while throwing up a prayer for his first bucket of the game and igniting a game-clinching run.

The Blazers jumped back ahead early in the second half and held off a final rally to seal a 78-67 victory over Tulane, Sunday, Feb. 25, at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in New Orleans

UAB (18-9, 10-4 AAC) entered the game at 125 in the NCAA NET rankings, earning a Quad-2 win with the regular-season sweep of the Green Wave (132), and is now a half-game ahead of SMU for fourth place in the AAC standings.

“I was discouraged after Wednesday night’s game because I just didn’t feel like we brought the fight,” UAB head coach Andy Kennedy told David Crane on BlazerSportsline postgame. “We weren’t as competitive as we needed to be under those circumstances. It’s almost incomprehensible. I challenged them: we have an established standard and let’s play to that standard and be the best version of ourselves and respond. Our guys responded big today.”

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The Blazers shot 53.6 percent overall and were 13-of-18 at the free-throw line, and had 21 assists on 30 made field goals. UAB owned the interior with a plus-19 advantage in paint production and a plus-18 edge in the rebounding battle, but allowed the Green Wave to shoot 42.1 percent from the field, including an 8-of-20 showing from range, and score 17 points off 14 turnovers.

“Sometimes the game dictates certain things,” Kennedy said. “Tonight, the way that Tulane was defending us, that was where the space was (for passing). We wanted to attack what the defense was giving us and, again, our frontcourt was terrific.”

Lendeborg produced another outstanding performance to his AAC Player of the Year resume, matching a career-high 26 points, on 10-of-13 shooting, and grabbing 12 rebounds, along with three assists and three blocks, and ignited a game-clinching 12-4 run after Tulane’s Jaylen Forbes cut the lead to 66-63 on a three-pointer with 2:54 left in the game.

Lendeborg is averaging 13.7 points and 10.1 rebounds through 27 games this season.

“Our frontcourt, our interior passing, they played that matchup the entire game and that’s what (Tulane coach) Ron Hunter’s teams do,” Kennedy said. “Running conventional offense, because all of the screening stuff, doesn’t really do that much good because you’re basically replacing one guy for another. We knew that coming in, obviously, and made adjustments by slipping some of our screeners, i.e. Yaxel Lendenborg, i.e. Chris Coleman, and playing in the middle of the floor. We were dependent upon them, trying to take advantage of both numbers situations, and they did a tremendous job.”

Efrem “Butta” Johnson finished with 13 points, five rebounds and five assists, and Javian Davis had 10 points, six rebounds and two steals. Chris Coleman scored 10 points, all in the first half, and added four rebounds and two assists.

Johnson knocked down two three-pointers during an 18-7 first-half run, finishing 3-of-6 for the game, and Davis scored seven straight points during a decisive 9-3 run a little more than midway through the second half.

“I look up and Chris, JD and Yax have combined for 46 points and 22 rebounds,” Kennedy said. “Pretty good night for our frontcourt.”

UAB led by as many as 10 points with 5:21 left in the first half, building off a 26-11 run, but the Green Wave closed out on a 16-5 run to take a 38-37 lead into the halftime break. The Blazers retook the lead, 43-40, on a 6-2 run to open the second half, and never trailed again in shooting out to an 11-point advantage with eight minutes remaining in the game.

Tulane cut the deficit to three points on a 10-2 run late in the period but the Blazers responded with a 12-4 closing run that saw Gaines and Lendeborg combine for every point and a 6-for-6 showing at the charity stripe.

“They don’t foul that much and we were having a hard time getting to the foul line,” Kennedy said. “I was proud that EG, despite not having a great game offensively, finished the game at the free throw line, which is great to see because you want your point guard to be solid there.”

Gaines finished with six points, four rebounds, five assists without a turnover, and a block and a steal, followed by Alejandro Vasquez with four points and three rebounds. Daniel Ortiz had seven points and two boards, and Tony Toney contributed two points, two rebounds and two steals.

The Blazers return home to face Wichita State, Wednesday, Feb. 28, at Bartow Arena in Birmingham. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. CT on ESPN+.