PHOTOS | HIGHLIGHTS
HUNTSVILLE | The No. 12 University of Alabama in Huntsville men's basketball team used a strong push late to blow past visiting Stillman 93-78 at Kelly Court at Spragins Hall on Friday evening. The Chargers improve to 2-1 on the season while handing the Tigers their first loss as they drop to 3-1.
 
Greg Gardner led the Chargers in the victory, scoring 19 points on a 7-for-11 showing from the field, and the senior point guard dished out seven assists while also grabbing a team-best four steals to go along with four rebounds.
 
Three others scored in double figures for the Chargers as Brandon Roberts poured in 18, Preston Herring scored 15, and freshman Tanner Finley was a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc en route to a season-high 13.
 
Seab Webster led UAH on the glass, collecting seven rebounds.
 
Stillman – who was paced by Rodnerius Lewis who scored 23 – started out strong and led by as many as seven points in the first half, but the Chargers would take a 33-32 lead into the locker room at the halftime break.
 
The lead would then exchange hands four times in the first two minutes of the second half to bring the total number of lead changes in the game to 13, but a 14-2 run over the next three minutes would put the Chargers up 51-40 by the 15:05 mark.
 
The Tigers responded, however, and UAH was up by just four at 75-71 with just over 5:30 left in the game before the Chargers outscored the visitors by an 18-7 margin over the final minutes to enjoy as much as a 16-point lead en route to the victory.
 
After shooting 58.1 percent in the second half, the Chargers finished the game connecting on 50 percent of their attempts and were also good on 43.8 percent of their shots from beyond the arc. Stillman connected on just five of its 18 3-point attempts and shot 41.3 percent overall on the night.
 
The Chargers were once again strong in the paint, scoring 40 inside points, and the team forced 22 turnovers and converted those into 25 points.
 
UAH also won the rebounding battle, grabbing 43 – including 17 offensive boards – to Stillman's 37.
 
Looking to build off of Friday night's win, the Chargers will turn around to face Trevecca Nazarene on Saturday with the tip scheduled for 3 p.m. at Kelly Court at Spragins Hall. TNU lost to Shorter 66-61 on Friday afternoon in Huntsville.