SANTA CLARA, Calif. — A potential game-tying 3-pointer rimmed out, and a cross-court pass for one more shot got broken up, and the Santa Clara University men's basketball team's 2024-25 season came to an end Sunday in a close, 88-84, defeat to UAB in the second round of the 2025 National Invitational Tournament at the Leavey Center.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Carlos Stewart Jr., already with a team-high 19 points in the game, dribbled the ball down the court with 10 seconds left and UAB (24-12) leading, 87-84. The Broncos decided not to take a timeout, and Stewart Jr. pulled up for the game-tying 3-point attempt. The ball went halfway down, but bounced back out, forcing the Broncos to foul and stop the clock one more time.
   
• UAB's Ja'Borri McGhee missed the front end of his one-and-one attempt and Tyeree Bryan rebounded the miss, giving the Broncos one more chance to tie it with 2.1 seconds remaining. But a court-long inbounds heave from the endline was broken up by the Blazers, who'd make one more free throw to ice the game.
   
• Stewart Jr. was one of three Broncos to score in double figures, joined by Christoph Tilly (17) and Bryan (14). Tilly posted his third double-double of the year with a team-high 12 rebounds. Elijah Mahi guided Santa Clara's offense with a game-high-tying seven assists.
   
• UAB was led by Yaxel Lendeborg, who posted his 24th double-double of the year with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Christian Coleman had 21 points, McGhee added 12 and Alejandro Vasquez chipped in 11. McGhee and Lendeborg both had seven assists to lead the Blazers.
   
• Santa Clara led by as much as 17 coming out of halftime thanks to a 15-5 run to start the period. That included eight consecutive points from Tilly, forcing the Blazers to call a timeout. The timeout didn't slow down Maji, who made back-to-back buckets that pushed SCU's lead to 59-42 with 16 minutes to play.
   
• Everything changed, however, coming out of the under-16 media timeout. UAB couldn't miss all of the sudden, making nine of 10 shots during a four-minute, 21-6 blitz that suddenly turned it into a two-point game at 65-63. Stewart Jr. hit two 3-pointers during UAB's run, but Santa Clara also had seven missed shots and three turnovers.
   
• It looked like everything was settling back down when the Broncos built their lead back up to seven on another Stewart Jr. 3-pointer with 9:15 to play, but back again came UAB. The Blazers went on an 8-1 run to take their first lead since 90 seconds into the game at 75-73 with 7:24 on the clock.
   
• Santa Clara would not lead again after that. Layups from Bryan and Brenton Knapper tied the game twice more, but UAB used an offensive rebound and later capitalized on an SCU miss to make two buckets and take a four-point lead at 81-77, which would be just enough cushion to hold off a charging Santa Clara. The Broncos shot 3 for 5 from the floor in the game's final four minutes. The only two shots that didn't go down were Stewart Jr.'s two game-tying 3-point attempts with under a minute to play.
   
• UAB didn't make a basket for more than 6 1/2 minutes in the middle of the first period, missing nine shots in a row and turning it over once. That allowed Santa Clara to break a 12-12 tie and go on what would eventually be an 18-6 run over an eight-minute stretch that put it ahead, 30-18. Five different Broncos contributed to the run, with Carlos Stewart Jr.'s seven points leading the charge. Johnny O'Neil hit two 3-pointers during the run as well.
   
• Santa Clara dominated the paint in the first half. It outrebounded UAB, 25-18, in the game's first 20 minutes and outscored the Blazers, 22-8, in the paint. All nine Broncos who saw time on the floor in the first half scored at least two points and had at least one rebound, and all but two of them had at least one assist in a full team effort.
   
• The teams traded baskets in the first five minutes, leading to a dead-even match on the scoreboard at 12-12. UAB started the evening shooting 4 for 8 with two 3-pointers while Santa Clara started 5 for 7, also with two treys. The Broncos hit four of their first five shots of the game, with makes coming from three different players. UAB also had early contributions from multiple players. Three different Blazers combined to make the team's first four field goals of the night.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

• 2: Sunday marked only the Broncos' second loss in 2024-25 when outshooting their opponent. They outshot UAB, 48.5% to 43.3%.
• 11: The Broncos outrebounded UAB, 45-34, on Sunday. It was their first defeat this season when having at least a +10 rebounding margin. They were previously 11-0 in those games.
• 22: Stewart Jr. and Tilly both logged their 22nd double-digit scoring games of the season, finishing tied for the team lead with Adama-Alpha Bal.