Box Score
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Behind the strength of an impressive 28-point performance from
Zane Campbell, the No. 17 UAH men's basketball team rolled to its third straight win on Saturday night, defeating West Florida by an 89-73 score at Spragins Hall. With the victory, the Chargers move to 12-3 (3-1 Gulf South Conference), while UWF falls to 11-6 (2-2 GSC).
Campbell used a 12-for-15 performance from the field – including hitting three of five attempts from beyond the arc – to move past 1,000 points for his career to give the Blue and White three players with at least 1,000 career points.
Jaime Smith reached the plateau earlier this season, and
Josh Magette accomplished the feat a year ago.
Following a 2-2 tie a minute into the contest, the Chargers would lead the rest of the way as they built up as much as a 12-point advantage in the second half thanks to blistering starts from Campbell and Smith.
The 6-8 junior from West Limestone, Ala., scored 19 of his 28 in the first stanza as he only missed one of his nine attempts from the field in the period, and Smith collected 14 of the 19 he scored on the night in the period as he nailed a pair of 3-pointers and went 6-for-6 from the charity stripe.
Though the hosts did lead through the night, there was a period of time in the middle of the second half in which West Florida pulled close, using an 11-3 run to cut the gap to two at 62-60 with 12:50 left in the contest.
Reclaiming the momentum for his squad, Magette buried a trey on the ensuing UAH possession to spur an 11-0 string of Charger points that put the team up 73-60 with just over nine minutes on the clock.
West Florida answered back with a mini-run to pull back within seven, but the visitors would come no closer as the Blue and White's lead ballooned to as many as 18 before the game went final at 89-73.
The Chargers were impressive with the basketball on the night as the team assisted on 25 of its 30 baskets while turning the ball over a season-low six times. Since giving it away 24 times last week at West Georgia, UAH has committed just 23 miscues total in the three games since.
Moving ever closer to the GSC record for assists in a career, Magette added 10 more on the night to go along with 22 points to record his third consecutive double-double and seventh overall. The senior entered the game tops in the country in assists per game and 17th in double-doubles.
Joining the aforementioned trio of Campbell, Smith and Magette in double figures on the night was
Conner Blasi as he scored 10 – four of which came on successive, impressive dunks in the games waning minutes – and grabbed a team-best five rebounds off the bench. Blasi has notched double figures in three straight now.
Both Blasi and
Xavier Baldwin set career highs in assists on the night as Baldwin dished out five and Blasi picked up four helpers.
For the fourth straight game, UAH shot over 50 percent from the floor as it registered a field goal percentage of 55.6 percent against the Argos while limiting the GSC's top shooting team to a 47.8 success rate from the field.
Dominating the battle on the glass, West Florida owned a significant 40-24 advantage in rebounds.
The Chargers will return to action on Thursday when it hits the road to Cleveland, Miss., to take on Delta State.
