Box Score HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Sending the team's four seniors off with a victory in their final regular season contest at Kelly Court at Spragins Hall, the No. 6 University of Alabama in Huntsville men's basketball team defeated visiting Shorter in an intense showdown by a 77-73 score. The Chargers finish the regular season at 22-4 (15-3 Gulf South Conference), while Shorter ends its season at 15-11 (9-9 GSC).
 
The contest marked the last time that seniors Xavier Baldwin, Zane Campbell, Jaime Smith and Brett Wester will step on the UAH hardwood for a regular season game, and all four earned the start in Saturday's game.
 
The first half was a back-and-forth affair that saw the lead exchange hands 10 times, and the contest was tied on seven occasions with Shorter eventually heading into the locker room at the intermission holding a slim 37-35 edge.
 
Coming out of the gates hot to start the second period, the Chargers ripped off a 15-7 run in the first five minutes of the frame to erase the deficit and grab a 50-44 lead. The run was punctuated by a pair of 3-pointers as Smith buried one to put the home team on top and Wayne Dedrick followed it up with one of his own to produce the six-point lead.
 
UAH would control play through much of the rest of the contest, though the Hawks would not go away easily and eventually trimmed the deficit to just two at 71-69 with 1:36 remaining.
 
A handful of fruitless possessions followed for both squads before Greg Gardner went to the foul line and made it a four-point ballgame with half a minute left. Shorter's Walter Hill proceeded to hit a trey to cut the lead back to one, but Dedrick and Smith both hit a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to keep the visitors at bay.
 
Smith finished the night with 25 points to go along with a team-best eight assists, while Dedrick notched his first career double-double as he scored 22 and grabbed 13 rebounds. Baldwin joined those two in scoring in double figures as he registered 10 on the evening.
 
Campbell scored eight while collecting eight boards.
 
The team shot 41.2 percent for the game while limiting the Hawks a shooting percentage of 37.9 percent, and the Chargers outrebounded the visitors 41-35.
 
The team will now turn its attention to the Gulf South Conference Basketball Championships as the squad holds down the No. 1 seed after winning the regular season title for the fourth consecutive year. UAH will play West Georgia at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday at Samford University in Birmingham.