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Memphis salvages Atlantis tourney with win over Northern Iowa

Nov 24, 2012 - 11:41 PM Paradise Island, Bahamas (Sports Network) - Chris Crawford tallied 18 points and 12 rebounds in No. 19 Memphis' 52-47 victory over Northern Iowa in the seventh place game of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament.

Joe Jackson had 15 points for the Tigers (3-2), who lost to VCU in the quarterfinals and Minnesota in the loser's bracket.

"If we were 0-3 nobody would want to be around me," Memphis head coach Josh Pastner said. "What's important is we won. We needed some momentum."

Deon Mitchell netted 18 points to lead Northern Iowa (3-3), which began the year with three straight wins before losing all three of its contests in the tournament.

"We moved the ball well and found guys in the right places. We rebounded better in the first two games. The hard part is we didn't have enough to show for it," Northern Iowa head coach Ben Jacobson said.

Chip Rank's layup gave Northern Iowa a 41-40 edge with 5:18 remaining, but the Tigers countered with eight straight points to seize control of the contest.

A Crawford layup preceded three-point plays by Jackson and Adonis Thomas for a 48-41 Tigers lead with 35 ticks to go.

Earlier, four straight Northern Iowa triples -- two by Rank -- capped a 14-0 run and helped the Panthers jump out to a quick 26-12 margin.

Northern Iowa, though, didn't score for the remaining 4:31 of the half, but still took a 26-22 lead into the break.

Game Notes

This was the first-ever meeting between the programs ... Memphis shot 36.7 percent (18-of-49) from the floor, while Northern Iowa finished 31.4 percent (16-of-51) from the field.