HIGHLIGHTS
HUNTSVILLE | The No. 15 University of Alabama in Huntsville men's basketball team started out conference play with a victory Thursday night, defeating visiting West Florida 64-58 at Kelly Court at Spragins Hall. UAH improves to 6-1 (1-0 Gulf South Conference), while West Florida slips to 4-3 (0-1 GSC).
 
Justin Ward came off the bench and hit five key 3-pointers en route to scoring 15 as the freshman was 5-for-6 from beyond the arc, and senior Ronnie Mack matched him with 15 points on the night as he hit three triples in the victory.
 
Grabbing a team-best nine rebounds while also dishing out six assists, scoring five, and picking up three steals was Greg Gardner.
 
The Chargers started the contest strong, building up an 11-point advantage with a 9-0 run in the first half that made it 17-6 at the 12:58 mark, but West Florida would gradually chip away at its deficit as UAH held just a 31-29 lead at the break.
 
UAH pushed the advantage out to four when Seab Webster scored two of his nine points on the opening possession of the second half, but UAH would not record another field goal for nearly 10 minutes, allowing West Florida to take a 45-37 lead with 11:05 left in the game.
 
Provided a spark by one of Ward's 3-pointers, the Chargers then went on a 13-4 run that included six from Ward, four from Taylor Chapman, and was punctuated by an old-fashioned 3-point play from Troy Saxton that put the hosts ahead at 50-49 with 7:32 remaining, and UAH would never trail again from the point forward, going up by as many as nine in the game's closing moments.
 
The team's slow start to the second half produced a 34.4 percent shooting night for the Chargers, but the team only committed 10 turnovers in the game, allowing them to stay in the contest despite West Florida connecting on 41.5 percent of its attempts.
 
Even with Ward's strong night for the Chargers, UWF's bench outscored UAH's by a 41-27 clip as the Argos were led by Terrance Townes who poured in 20.
 
Led by Lendward Griffin's 10 boards, West Florida also held the advantage on the glass, grabbing 40 rebounds compared to 34 for the Chargers.
 
UAH will return to action on Saturday when Valdosta State visits. The tip for that contest has been moved to 1 p.m. at Kelly Court at Spragins Hall.