The University of Alabama at Birmingham, or UAB Blazers defeated third seed Iowa State Cyclones, 60-59 in the Round of 64 of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, or NCAA tournament in one of the pair of huge upsets in the second round of the 2015 March Madness on Thursday.

Robert Brown led the UAB Blazers in scoring with 21 points and forward William Lee had 14 points and 12 rebounds. For Iowa State, guard Monte Morris had 15 points to lead the team and Goerges Niang and Matt Thomas both had 11 points. Forward Jameel McKay contributed 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Lee made a jumper with 26 seconds to go to give the UAB Blazers the 57-56 lead after a made basket by Morris. Lee hit two free throws with 12 seconds to go to give the UAB Blazers a three point lead.

"For us, it was just huge," Brown said to ESPN.com. "We come here, not just to play games, but to actually make some noise and to win some games. To be able to do that and win for Birmingham, win for Coach [Jerod] Haase, it's a great feeling."

Iowa State had a chance to avoid the elimination but Cyclones guard Naz Long missed an open three-pointer at the buzzer. In another upset on Thursday, the Georgia State Panthers beat the Baylor Bears, 57-56 and like the UAB Blazers, the Georgia State was seeded 14th in their region and Baylor was the third seed.

The UAB Blazers had 20 wins against 15 losses in the regular season and are seeded 14th in the South Region of the NCAA bracket. Iowa State ranked second in the Big 12 Conference and overall had 25 wins against 9 losses and was ranked ninth overall in the NCAA bracket seedings.

The UAB Blazers will face 11th seed UCLA Bruins, which beat the SMU Mustangs, 60-59 in their second round game, on Satruday, March 21 in the Round of 32. Georgia State will take on 6th seed 6 Xavier Musketeers, which beat Ole Miss, 76-57, in the next round.

Email j.gloria@IBTimes.com.au to contact author.

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