Rebels survive final tune-up

Steve Guiremand

Thursday, Jan. 8, 2004 | 10:06 a.m.

A lot of people questioned the wisdom of UNLV scheduling a Division III team like Occidental College for its final tuneup before Monday night's key Mountain West Conference opener against defending co-champion Utah.

Turns out it may have been a blessing in disguise.

Playing for first time in eight days, and after a week of tough practices, the Rebels (9-3) came out sluggish, appeared to have tired legs and struggled to put away the pesky Tigers, 78-63, on Wednesday night at the Thomas & Mack Center.

UNLV, which missed it's first 10 3-point attempts and once again struggled on the boards while getting outrebounded, 37-35, led by the Tigers by just seven points, 50-43, with 10:33 remaining.

But behind the determined play of junior forward Odartey Blankson (18 points, 12 rebounds) and junior guard Romel Beck (game-high 26 points), the Rebels finally put the contest away with a 15-4 run over the next six minutes to extend their winning streak to four games.

Still, considering the caliber of competition --- the Tigers don't even award athletic scholarships to their players and had lost to mighty Cal State Monterey Bay earlier this season --- this was certainly not a win for the scrapbooks.

"Occidental came to play tonight and it showed," Beck said. "We came out sluggish but we finished strong in the second half. We should have won this game by 30 or 40 points, though."

"We weren't satisfied with how we played," added point guard Jerel Blassingame. "But we knew that they were a good team and that they weren't going to just lay down. I think they were a good team for us to face before the start of conference. They play hard. We knew it would be a fight."

UNLV's lack of intensity was very apparent in the Rebels' spotty defense and lackluster rebounding effort.

Occidental players, many of whom laughed and giggled at the sight of the Thomas & Mack's pregame fireworks show, managed to hold a 22-14 rebound edge in the first half and had nine offensive rebounds. UNLV narrowed the gap with a stronger second half but starting center J.K. Edwards (7), backup center Louis Amundson (2) and power forward James Peters (4) combined for just 13 rebounds in their 48 collective minutes on the floor.

"We allowed them to stick around because we didn't defend well enough," Spoonhour said. "And then we had some turnovers we shouldn't have had. ...

"We didn't play as well as I would have liked, obviously. (Occidental is) a good little basketball team. They know how to play. They're well-coached. It's not like football where you can take it and ram it down someone's throat. Basketball is a little different. There's a certain amount of finesse. And if you get a couple of guys who can shoot the ball, you can stay in the game."

Occidental (6-3), which was led by senior point guard Dan Murphy (20 points, 4-of-7 on 3-pointers), connected on 8 of its 18 3-pointers while UNLV was a pitiful 3-of-21 behind the arc.

Afterward the Rebels seemed almost relieved to have the game behind them so they could begin focusing on Monday night's conference opener against the Utes.

"I think everybody is excited about that," Beck said. "We're ready to get this thing started. We'll see what we can do when we play Utah."

"We're ready," added Blassingame. "We have no choice. Monday we play. I'm looking forward to it."

Although the Rebels were outrebounded for the ninth time in 12 games, UNLV did hold a huge 48-22 edge in points in the paint. ... The Rebels are taking today off before beginning preparations for the Utah game on Friday. ... Blankson had his fifth double-double in a row.