Box Score PENSACOLA, Fla. – Falling for the first time this season, the second-ranked UAH men's basketball team dropped a 83-77 decision to hot-shooting North Georgia on Friday afternoon at the West Florida Thanksgiving Classic. The Chargers fall to 3-1 on the young year while UNG improves to 5-1.
The Saints were sharp from long-range as they connected on 12 3-pointers in the game while outshooting the Blue and White from the field by a 56.0 percent to 44.1 percent clip.
UAH grabbed an early 8-3 lead at the 17:38 mark of the opening half thanks to a 6-0 run over the span of a minute, but a response from North Georgia put the Saints on top and they pushed their advantage all the way out to a 13-point lead as the teams went into the locker room at the half with the score 45-32.
Nine of the 12 treys for North Georgia came in the first as they hit the long-ball at an impressive 64.3 percent clip in the stanza.
The lead remained strong in the Saints' favor through the first five minutes of the second half as they twice built up as much as a 14-point advantage, but with the score 58-44 with 15:05 left in the game, the Chargers ripped off nine straight points to pull within five at 58-53 with 13:18 remaining.
Scoring six of his 17 second half points during the spurt,
Zane Campbell keyed the run.
North Georgia, however, was not deterred and again built up a double-digit margin to lead 73-63 at the 6:39 mark, but the Blue and White had an answer once more as it used a 6-0 run over the next 2:29 to pull within four at 73-69.
After Campbell grabbed a rebound on the defensive end, the Chargers had a chance to pull closer but were whistled for travelling, and the Saints responded with a trey back down on their end to halt the UAH momentum en route to ultimately securing the victory.
With the strong second half, Campbell led all scorers in the contest with 26 points. He was joined in double figures by
Jaime Smith who recorded 21 points and
Xavier Baldwin as he tallied 12 on the night to go along with his game-best eight rebounds.
Held to single digits in scoring for the first time this season,
Josh Magette recorded seven assists to go along with five steals and four rebounds.
Travis Core led the Saints with 19 points on the strength of a 4-for-6 night from beyond the arc.
The Chargers lost despite protecting the ball as they turned the ball over just 10 times compared to 19 giveaways by North Georgia, and UAH dominated inside, outscoring the opposition by a 36-18 margin in the paint. However, the Saints saw their bench score 31 points while the Charger reserves recorded just four points.
UAH will have a quick opportunity to rebound from the loss as it continues play in Pensacola on Saturday when it takes on Auburn-Montgomery at 4 p.m.
