Box Score LAS VEGAS – Picking up a solid victory over a tough Western Washington team, the No. 18 UAH men's basketball team earned a 77-74 triumph on Friday to sweep both of its contests in Las Vegas at the Great Western Shootout. The Chargers move to 8-2 on the season, and WWU drops to 11-2.

Western Washington had defeated all three nationally-ranked teams it had played thus far this season, including an impressive 80-61 win over NCAA South Region member Rollins on Thursday.

After falling behind 4-0 in the game's first minute, the Chargers responded by heating up from beyond the arc in a hurry. The Blue and White's first four field goals were all 3-pointers – including two from Jaime Smith who also added a successful 3-for-3 trip to the free throw line – as UAH built up a 15-10 lead by the 15:17 mark of the opening half.

Another trey from Smith put the Chargers up 20-11 at 13:20, and the advantage would balloon all the way out to 30-18 when Conner Blasi picked up the second of his two first-half dunks with 8:34 remaining until the halftime break.

Western Washington answered by going on a 23-10 run to end the half as UAH cooled down from downtown, and the Vikings owned a 41-40 advantage when the teams went into the locker room at the half.

Already with 10 points in the first half, Zane Campbell took control of the contest offensively for the Chargers to open the second half as he scored nine of the team's first 12 points of the period, and Srdjan Boskovic added a pair of 3-pointers as UAH went on a 15-7 run over the half's opening six minutes.

The run helped produce a 55-48 advantage for UAH which would be the largest it would enjoy the rest of the way as WWU hung close. However, the Vikings were unable to pull any closer than the contest's sixth tie which came with 9:23 left and the score knotted at 63-63.

Leading an effort that saw the Chargers shoot an even 50 percent on the night, Campbell went 9-for-14 from the floor en route to scoring a game-high 27 points, and he was solid on the boards as he led the team with seven rebounds.

The 27 points mark the highest scoring total for a UAH player this season.

Smith joined Campbell as the only Chargers in double figures as he scored 20 on the night to pull within seven points of breaching the 1,000-point plateau.

For his efforts, Campbell was named the MVP of the tournament, while Smith and Josh Magette were also named to the all-tournament team. UAH marked the only one of the four participating schools to have more than one player earn tournament honors.

Led by Zach Henifin's 19-point showing, the Vikings finished the night shooting 44.1 percent, and Rory Blanche grabbed 10 rebounds in helping Western Washington outrebound UAH by a 35-25 margin.

The Chargers will now break for the holidays, and the squad will return to action when it opens Gulf South Conference play on the road at West Alabama on Thursday, Jan. 5.