HIGHLIGHTS | PHOTOS
HUNTSVILLE | A strong second half propelled the University of Alabama in Huntsville to an 80-64 victory over visiting Tampa on Saturday afternoon at Kelly Court at Spragins Hall. The Chargers move to 2-0 on the year, while the Spartans slip to 0-2.
 
Greg Gardner led a quartet of Chargers who scored in double figures in the contest as he hit four 3s and went 6-for-10 from the field en route to scoring 19 points, and the junior guard also dished out a game-best seven assists while matching the team high with five rebounds.
 
Scoring 15 was Ronnie Mack as he also connected on four triples, and Seab Webster added 14. Freshman Kip Owens was a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor and rounded out the UAH contingent of double-digit scorers as he tallied 11.
 
Taking advantage of eight UAH turnovers in the opening 20 minutes, the visiting Spartans – who were paced by Jordan Davis' 34 points – enjoyed as much as a 16-point advantage in the first half on the way to holding a 42-33 lead at the break, and the visitors would hold a 10-point lead at 50-40 with 16:04 left in the game before the Chargers proceeded to completely turn the game around.
 
A Gardner triple started the strong stretch, and a thunderous dunk from Webster with 12:16 remaining pulled the Chargers to within three, allowing Spencer Palmer to hit a clutch 3-pointer to tie it at 50-50.
 
Putting UAH on top for the first time in the good and giving the team a lead it would not relinquish, Gardner buried another shot from downtown at the 10:43 mark to produce the Chargers with a 53-50 lead, and Owens would tally the final points of the dominant 15-0 run that served to push the contest to UAH's favor.
 
UAH ended up outscoring Tampa 47-22 in the second half to ultimately run away with the victory.
 
Behind a 62.1 percent showing in the final 20 minutes, UAH shot 52.8 percent for the game while holding the Spartans to a 40.4 percent shooting mark. Troy Saxton and Webster both joined Gardner with five rebounds, helping the Chargers collect 27 rebounds on the game, while Tampa grabbed 29 to hold a slight edge on the glass.
 
UAH will continue the five-game homestand to open the season on Monday night when Trevecca Nazarene visits. Tip-off in the Rocket City is slated for 7:30 p.m.