UM defeats William Carey College in Gulf Coast Athletic Conference tournament action, 72-67

WESTWEGO, La. - There hasn't been a prolific shot-blocker in Rams history quite like Gimel Lewis. In the process of re-writing the Rams' record books, Lewis has already broken his single-season record of 53 as he currently has 72. But no one was more important than his fourth and final one in today's 72-67 win over William Carey College in the first round of the GCAC Conference Tournament held at the Alario Center in Westwego, Louisiana.

With 27 seconds left, Jaeson Maravich, who had virtually had his way with Mobile the entire game, encountered the one obstacle he couldn't get around and it was the one shot that William Carey College (15-18) fell short of as they lost to the regular season conference co-champ UM Rams (24-9).

Having scored the last seven points, and down by three, 70-67, Maravich was seemingly poised to single-handedly take over the game and lead his Crusaders to the first-round upset. A quick first step, Maravich shook off his defender, but as he pulled up for the shot it was the long out-stretched arms of 6-foot-10 Gimel Lewis that greeted him in the lane and sent the ball the other way.

A Larry Burgess jumper with eight seconds remaining iced the win for the Rams and will send them to a second-round match-up with the winner of the Xavier University versus Spring Hill College game tomorrow, at 6 p.m.

With the score tied 14-14, Jaeson Maravich sparked a 6-0 run that forced UM to call for timeout with 11:06 remaining in the first half. William Carey's crusade didn't stop as they outscored the Rams 23-10 to take a 37-24 at the half.

Shooting a woeful 23.3 percent from the floor, including 0-11 from behind the arc, the Rams simply couldn't get any kind of rhythm going in the first half.

After the Crusader's Chris Moody opened the second half with a jumper the Rams went on a 10-0 run to trim William Carey's lead to 43-38 with 14:57 remaining.

Once again it was the one man army of Maravich who scored five straight points to open up a ten-point, 48-38, lead with 14:10 remaining. Maravich's 33 points and eight rebounds wasn't enough however as the Rams woke up.

A Tramaine Perry three-pointer, the only long-range missile to find its target for Mobile, sparked an 11-0 run that allowed the Rams to take a 53-52 lead, their first of the game, with 8:56 to go.

Five more lead exchanges ensued until the Rams were finally able to take hold of the lead, 61-60, with a Tramaine Perry free throw with 4:34 remaining.

 Tramaine Perry scored 21 points, 19 in the second half, to lead the Rams. Gimel Lewis blocked four shots to go along with his 21-point and 13 rebounds double-double. Lewis' rebounding effort helped give the Rams a 48-36 advantage on the boards.

William Carey's Anthony Barnes was the other Crusader to score in double-figures as he finished 13 points.