When nothing else was going, there was always the free throw.

The UAB basketball team, along with its opponent, combined for 57 made shots on 64 attempts at the charity stripe and 20-of-24 came inside the final five minutes.

The Blazers erased a double-digit halftime deficit and shot their way to a 90-85 win over UNC-Asheville, Friday, Dec. 29, at Bartow Arena in Birmingham.

“A tale of two halves, was it not,” UAB head coach Andy Kennedy said. “First half, completely dominated by UNC-Asheville, but the second half was pretty good for the Blazers. Offensively, we finally woke up and started getting aggressive and trying to attack downhill. Good night for us and a good way to finish against a competitive team to finish our non-con(ference).”

UAB (8-5) entered the game at 217 in the NCAA NET rankings and should move up slightly following the Quad 4 win over UNC-Asheville (197).

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The Blazers shot 37.7 percent overall, 48.6 percent in the second half, and were 6-of-20 from 3-point range and 34-of-36 on free throws. Defensively, UAB allowed the Bulldogs to shoot 46.7 percent from the field but held a plus-7 edge in rebounding.

“We were down three on the glass and ended up being plus-seven,” Kennedy said. “Huge.”

Yaxel Lendeborg posted his fourth double-double of the season, producing a career-high 24 points and grabbing 15 rebounds while adding two blocks, and Javian Davis finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the season.

Both combined to go 11-of-25 from the field and 18-of-18 on free-throw attempts. They scored eight straight points on free throws during a 14-6 run late in the first half and added another eight points during a 14-5 second-half opening run that saw the Blazers retake their first lead since early in the first half.

“We practice that a lot, it’s big for us,” Lendeborg said. “At the end of every practice we finish with free throws. For bigger guys, you have to be able to convert because of how many fouls you get down there. It was big time for us in this win.”

UNC-Asheville powered its way to a 13-point advantage more than midway through the first half but UAB closed the gap to two possessions with 2:09 remaining in the frame. The Bulldogs finished the half on a 9-2 run and claimed a 44-32 lead at the halftime break.

“Coach AK came in the locker room and gave us a good talking,” Lendeborg said. “But it was Coach Aaron Johnson that gave us the motivation that we needed to go out and win this game. We were down in the beginning, no edge or no control, but we started feeling ourselves.”

The Blazers opened the second half with a 10-0 run, powered by Lendeborg, Gaines and Davis, and took its first lead, 47-44, since the 18:03 mark of the first half on Gaines’ third triple of the game. UNC-Asheville jumped back ahead on a 5-0 spurt but never led again following a 9-2 run punctuated by a 3-pointer from Ortiz.

UAB made four of its final 14 shots while holding the Bulldogs without a field goal for 7:49 until making 3-of-5 in the last 1:02 of action.

“Defensively, we’ve got a lot of issues,” Kennedy said. “We did a better job late but we’re a work-in-progress.”

Eric Gaines had 20 points, seven assists and three steals, followed by Daniel Ortiz with 10 points and three rebounds. Gaines had two 3-pointers in UAB’s second-half opening run and went 7-of-8 at the line in the final 4:35 of the game.

Christian Coleman contributed eight points, three rebounds and two blocks, and Tony Toney had six points. Efrem “Butta” Johnson and Alejandro Vasquez combined for six points.

The Blazers hit the road for their first-ever AAC game against UTSA, Tuesday, Jan. 2, at the Convocation Center in San Antonio. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. CT on ESPNU.