PHOTOS
HUNTSVILLE | The University of Alabama in Huntsville men's basketball team started off the 2014-15 campaign with a key region victory, defeating visiting Saint Leo 71-58 on Friday night at Kelly Court at Spragins Hall. The Chargers start the season at 1-0, while SLU will begin the year at 0-1.
 
Ronnie Mack and Seab Webster led the way for the Chargers, scoring 22 and 21 points, respectively. Mack was terrific from 3-point land, going 6-for-11 from beyond the arc, while Webster added three triples while also grabbing six rebounds.
 
Taylor Chapman joined that duo in double figures as he scored 10 on the evening.
 
Making his much-heralded debut in the contest was junior transfer Preston Herring, and he recorded 14 rebounds and six blocks. The six swats was just one off the program record of seven, while the 14 rebounds are the best for a Charger since Zane Campbell also grabbed 14 back on Nov. 14, 2011.
 
One of Webster's made buckets came just before the end of the first half as he buried a shot from inside the arc off one of Greg Gardner's team-best seven assists, making it appear as if the Chargers would take a six-point advantage into the halftime break, but Troy Saxton would steal the ball away from the visitors and make a shot fall as time expired to produce a 37-29 lead for UAH going into the locker room.
 
In the second half, the Lions would take advantage of a nearly five-minute long scoring drought for the hosts in the middle of the period, pulling into a 53-53 tie at the 8:03 mark, but a Webster layup would spark a 10-0 run for the Chargers, and the lead would balloon to as many as 15 as UAH outscored SLU 18-5 in the game's final seven minutes.
 
For the contest, UAH shot 51.1 percent from the field while shooting 13-for-26 from downtown, and the Chargers held Saint Leo – who was led by 12 points from Ron Foxx – to a shooting night of just 29.3 percent.
 
UAH picked up assists on 18 of the team's 23 made shots, and freshman Kip Owens was second on the squad behind Gardner with five helpers.
 
The Chargers will look to build off of the win on Saturday when UAH continues play at home in the GSC/SSC Challenge against Tampa. The tip is scheduled for 2 p.m