Box Score PHOTOS | HIGHLIGHTS
HUNTSVILLE | The University of Alabama in Huntsville men's basketball team dropped a heartbreaker on Saturday night, falling 97-95 in overtime to visiting rival North Alabama at Kelly Court at Spragins Hall. The Chargers slip to 15-12 (11-9 Gulf South Conference), while UNA improves to 19-9 (13-7 GSC).
 
With UAH holding an 83-80 advantage in the waning moments of regulation, North Alabama's Nathan Spehr hit a deep 3-pointer to tie the game and force overtime where the visitors would outscore UAH by a 14-12 clip to claim the victory.
 
The contest marked the final home game for seniors Conner Blasi and Andrew Donovan, and Blasi was one of five Chargers that scored in double figures as sophomore guard Greg Gardner led UAH with a career-best 25 points. Ronnie Mack poured in 22, while both Seab Webster and Wayne Dedrick chipped in with 13 each.
 
Pacing North Alabama was Rashaun Claiborne and Spehr who both tallied 24.
 
It was a game that saw nine lead changes and seven ties, and both teams held the lead for nearly an identical amount of time with UAH being in front for 18:41 while the Lions were up in the game for 18:28. Additionally, both teams enjoyed as much as a seven-point advantage in the battle between the two rivals.
 
UNA's seven-point advantage came in the first half as they shot 44.8 percent while limiting the hosts to a field goal percentage of just 34.4 percent en route to grabbing a 35-31 advantage at the halftime break.
 
To start the second period, Mack instantly heated up and connected on three straight from 3-point land to turn the deficit into a 40-39 advantage, and a 9-0 run for UAH later in the half would provide the Chargers with their seven-point cushion as the team went up 51-44 on another Mack triple with 11:57 left in the game.
 
Donovan free throws at the 3:45 mark would again put the Chargers up by seven at 74-67, but North Alabama closed the period on a 16-9 run that allowed them to tie the game and force the extra five minutes.
 
On the night, UAH ended up outshooting the Lions by a 48.4 percent to 46.6 percent margin, but the Lions did control the rebounding battle, grabbing 48 compared to 39 for the Chargers. That rebounding performance for UNA included 14 on the offensive glass that led to the team outscoring UAH 13-2 in second-chance points.
 
North Alabama also held a 42-32 edge in points in the paint and a 20-11 margin in points off of turnovers.
 
The Chargers will now turn their attention to the 2014 Gulf South Conference Men's Basketball Championships to be held next week in Birmingham, Ala., at Samford University.