There’s no such thing as moral victories in the NCAA tournament but refusing to lay down and take a whipping is as good a way as any to close out an otherwise successful season.

UAB’s Efrem “Butta” Johnson and Yaxel Lendeborg were more of a hindrance to their team in the first half but would not go down quietly as they sparked a second-half comeback that came up just a bit short of a first-round upset of last season’s national runner-up.

“All year we’ve been playing with toughness, we’re pretty much a team that never likes to go away,” Lendeborg said. “We can struggle with a lot of aspects in our game, but we always have that fight in us to make sure that it’s a close game or we end up out on top. I feel like the point that’s going to get us back here is that same aggressive, playing more as a family, trusting each other again, and just giving it whatever we got.”

The Blazers rallied for their only lead midway through the second half but could not complete the upset in falling 69-65 to No. 5 seed San Diego State in the first round of the NCAA tournament, Friday, March 22, at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena in Spokane, Washington.

“I realize that we’re new to the scene for most of you, and justifiably so, but our group has fought most of the year,” UAB head coach Andy Kennedy said. “We’re kind of a scrappy group. We’re not as physically strong or as tough as San Diego State, but our mantra is somewhat similar, in that we want to continue to be relentless in everything that we do.”

Read more on UAB basketball:

3 takeaways from UAB’s 69-65 loss to SDSU in first round of NCAA tournament

UAB falls to San Diego State, 69-65 in NCAA tournament

UAB finishes the season 23-12 overall after winning its first AAC tournament title in its inaugural season in the league and advancing to a second NCAA tournament appearance in four seasons under Kennedy.

“First of all, congratulations to San Diego State,” Kennedy said. “We get that automatic bid on Sunday through great play from my guys, earn the right to be here, and then you see San Diego State pop up. Great respect for the job that started with Steve Fisher and now continues with Brian Dutcher.”

The Blazers battled to an 11-all tie but soon fell apart as both Christian Coleman and Lendeborg were charged with three fouls each in the first half, allowing San Diego State to power inside for a 16-5 run and take a 27-16 lead with 8:35 left in the first half

Lendeborg’s third foul came at the 6:12 mark of the period and the AAC Defensive Player of the Year, who set both the UAB and AAC single-season rebounding record (370), had only two rebounds and was held scoreless in the first 20 minutes of action.

“It was terrible for it to be such a physical game,” Lendeborg said. “I feel like if I was to touch anybody in any type of way, it would be a foul. But that’s maybe just me making excuses and getting in my head. But I tried to match (Jaedon) LeDee’s physicality. As soon as I did, boom, foul, and it messes with my head all game.”

Lendeborg picked up his fourth foul, not six minutes into the second half but played through foul trouble to finish with 11 points and seven rebounds.

“It took me a while to even start being aggressive again because I was scared of the charge call or messing up for my team any more than I already did,” Lendeborg said.

Meanwhile, Johnson had eight points and two rebounds in the first half but gave up two turnovers that resulted in a pair of free throws and a fastbreak basket for the Aztecs. The Blazers closed the first half with a 9-4 run, aided by a Johnson jump shot, to cut the San Diego State lead to 35-29 entering the halftime break.

“We fought hard, we fought all season hard,” Johnson said. “We started off with a rocky start. I think we went 6-5, and people started to doubt us, people started giving up on us, and we just stayed together as a team. Unity, you know, has been in our player meetings and our team meetings. We done got blown out, we done — basically been down, came back, won games, so we knew going into the stretch there wasn’t a position that we haven’t been in.”

Johnson got UAB on the board to start the second half, ripping the lid off on a 3-pointer, and had two more triples during an 11-0 run that was capped on a midrange jumper by the sophomore guard.

He finished with a team-high 19 points on 50 percent shooting from the field and a 5-of-10 showing from 3-point range.

“I was able to knock down a couple of shots to bring the lead back down and bring energy to the team, to the people on the floor and guys on the bench,” Johnson said. “Once we started to make a little run, we started to come together, play as one, offensively and defensively, and we felt like in that moment, we had ‘em rattled and felt like they relaxed a little bit.”

“They started throwing punches and we punched back right then and there,” he added. “They really felt us at that moment and felt like UAB’s not a team to sit here and play around with.”

Johnson had an opportunity to tie the game and possibly send it to overtime with eight seconds remaining but came up short and the Aztecs sealed the win with 1-of-2 shots at the line.

“Coach called open,” he said. “Just with Eric Gaines, put the ball in his hands and just to open the floor up for him, let him make a play. CC (Christian Coleman) gave me a screen, coming off to try to get a three off, and I caught it. I couldn’t catch and shoot immediately, and then pump faked, tried to get him to jump in the air, tried to get the foul, and I just couldn’t get into him and I just missed it.”