UAB 84, ORU 77

HONOLULU (AP) _ Ronnell Taylor scored 18 points to help lead Alabama-Birmingham to an 84-77 victory over Oral Roberts in the Rainbow Classic in Hawaii. <br/><br/>Marques Lewis added 13 points and Donnell

Friday, December 24th 2004, 6:17 am

By: News On 6

HONOLULU (AP) _ Ronnell Taylor scored 18 points to help lead Alabama-Birmingham to an 84-77 victory over Oral Roberts in the Rainbow Classic in Hawaii.

Marques Lewis added 13 points and Donnell Taylor and Demario Eddins had ten each for UAB Wednesday night.

Caleb Green scored 22 points and grabbed ten rebounds for ORU, while Ken Tutt had 16, Luke Spencer-Gardner added 15 and Larry Owens had 13 points and 15 rebounds.

The Blazers started the second half with a six-and-oh run to erase a one-point halftime deficit and extended their lead to ten with less than 15 minutes remaining.

The Golden Eagles cut the lead to 79-74 on three free throws by Spencer-Gardner, but Ronell Taylor got the inbounds pass and ran in for an uncontested dunk on the next play.

ORU got no closer than four the rest of the way.

The Golden Eagles are now 8-and-2 on the season.