Box Score
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – In a game that was much closer than the final score would indicate, the University of Alabama in Huntsville men's basketball team concluded its season on Wednesday night as it fell to Bellarmine by an 82-73 score at the Bank of Kentucky Center on the campus of Northern Kentucky University.
The Chargers impressive 2012 season concludes at 29-4, and the four losses mark a program-best for fewest losses in a campaign.
Trailing 67-57 with 8:06 remaining in the contest, the representatives of the South Region ripped off a 16-3 run that was punctuated by a
Zane Campbell layup to take a 73-72 lead at the 2:25 mark, but Bellarmine was able to hold UAH off the scoreboard the rest of the way while going 8-for-10 from the charity stripe to seal the contest.
Campbell finished the night as the game's leading scorer, pouring in 26 points on the strength of a 12-for-18 shooting performance from the field. The West Limestone, Ala., native also notched a team-high eight rebounds including four on the offensive end as he helped the Chargers hold a 30-26 advantage on the glass.
Using a record-breaking 3-pointer from
Jaime Smith to ignite things, the Blue and White started the contest off strong and opened up a 14-9 lead just over five minutes into the contest as Smith scored eight of the team's first points.
The game-opening shot from beyond the arc marked the 224th of Smith's career, pushing him past his brother Jason as the program's all-time leader in made 3s, and the Birmingham, Ala., native finished the contest with 24 points including a perfect 11-for-11 showing at the charity stripe – a mark that is the most impressive perfect performance at the free throw line in UAH history.
An 11-2 run by the Knights erased the UAH lead, and the defending national champions enjoyed a 25-21 advantage with 8:47 remaining in the opening period. The Chargers, however, proceeded to take over the rest of the way leading up to intermission.
Preventing Bellarmine from making a field goal for over six minutes, UAH built up a 38-29 lead before Jeremy Kendle hit a trey with under a minute left in the half. Campbell then put the Chargers back on top by the nine-point advantage with one of his two buckets from downtown to send the teams to the locker room at 41-32.
Bellarmine came out of the chutes on fire in the second half, however, as the team hit six 3-pointers in the period and shot 70.0 percent from the floor en route to wiping out its deficit and building up the big lead.
Kendle hit four of the team's treys and finished with 23 points, while Chris Dowe scored 24 and grabbed 12 points. The Chargers were able to hold All-American Braydon Hobbs to just five points, but he did hand out seven assists while picking up five steals.
For the game, the Chargers shot 46.3 percent from the floor compared to Bellarmine's 53.1 percent.
The game marked the final one in the magical career for
Josh Magette, and he finished the night with 10 assists to give him 878 for his career – the fifth-most all-time in Division II.
Also wrapping up his time in Huntsville was
Srdjan Boskovic who played an integral part in UAH's 20-game winning streak that propelled the team back to the Elite Eight.
The team will return three starters next season including
Xavier Baldwin who joined his fellow juniors in double figures on the night as he scored 10.
