No. 19 Memphis Tigers beat Northern Iowa Panthers 52-47 to avoid their third straight loss in the eight-team Battle 4 Atlantis on Saturday night.
Chris Crawford scored 18 points and had 12 rebounds, while Point guard Joe Jackson added 15 points and three assists for Memphis.
''If we were 0-3 nobody would want to be around me,'' The Associated Press quoted Memphis coach Josh Pastner as saying. ''Rocks would have been thrown and maybe it would hit the players. We'd have to look out for snipers after we got off the plane. What's important is we won. We needed some momentum.''
The Tigers had to work very hard to reduce Iowa's initial lead, as at one point of time, the Panthers were leading 26-12 in the first half. But Memphis were trailing by four points at the end of halftime.
''We just didn't get some rhythm (in the tournament overall),'' Pastner said. ''It's a long season. There are going to be some peaks and valleys. This is a good team we played. They'll beat a lot of teams going forward. It's not easy getting back-to-back losses come into a morning game then get down 14 in the first half and come out with a win. I'm really proud of my guys. That's why we play these tournaments. That win is going to help down the line in March.''
Jackson and Crawford, who were struggling this season with 8.8 points and 7.3 points average scores, played better against the Panthers. Crawford shot very well to get four off six attempts from the 3-point arc.
''I put Chris at the point and Joe off the ball. I wanted to get Joe going and I wanted to get Chris going,'' Pastner added further. ''We're a better team when our guard play is better and it hasn't been good. So I wanted to get some mojo back on the perimeter, and we did.''
Crawford's two free throws, with just 13 seconds remaining, helped his team extend the winning lead to 52-44.
''I've been playing shooting guard all my life at the 2. It's natural for me to slide to the 2. I did it in my high school, that's all I did,'' Jackson said. ''It has been a tough tournament for me. I have to continue to get better. Overall we got the win and that's the important thing."
''Right now it's not about the position I'm playing. I just want to make the team win. I don't care what position I play, as long as I'm on the floor,'' he added.
Memphis outscored Northern Iowa 30-21 in the second half and won the game by five points.
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