PHOTOS
HUNTSVILLE | Closing out the calendar year in style, The University of Alabama in Huntsville men's basketball team won for the fifth time in its past six games, defeating visiting Lee 88-75 on Saturday afternoon at Kelly Court at Spragins Hall. The Chargers improve to 8-3 (5-1 Gulf South Conference), while Lee slips to 3-8 (1-5 GSC).
 
With Valdosta State's loss at Mississippi College, what started as a five-way tie for first at the start of conference play this week has turned into UAH owning sole possession at the top of the standings with six league games in the book.
 
Justin Ward was stellar off the bench for the Chargers, scoring 27 points on the strength of seven made 3-pointers and adding three other successful shots. Making the performance even more terrific, the 27 points came in just 18 minutes of play for the redshirt sophomore from Buckhorn High School.

MBB: That'll do. That'll do just fine. #chargerpride pic.twitter.com/crwj3WwzJS

— UAH Chargers (@UAHChargers) December 19, 2015

Joining Ward in double figures were Preston Herring and Tanner Finley who scored 13 and 12, respectively.
 
The freshman Finley added four more 3-pointers, making him 13-of-21 from beyond the arc in the team's last three games, and Herring paced the team on the glass as he grabbed nine rebounds.
 
Greg Gardner and Michael Gilmore both dished out six assists, helping the team record 27 assists on the night.
 
UAH practically led wire-to-wire, building up a 52-43 lead at the half after shooting better than 71 percent (10-of-14) from 3-point land in the opening 20 minutes while shooting 20-of-29 overall.
 
The Chargers started the second half slow, scoring just once in the first four minutes as the Flames narrowed their deficit to seven at 54-47 at the 16:18 mark, but the hosts then went on a 15-3 run over the next 5:45 to go up 69-50 en route to holding as much as a 22-point advantage down the stretch.
 
For the contest, UAH finished the night shooting 50.0 percent while hitting 17 of its 37 attempts from 3-point land to match its season high – set Thursday against Shorter – in made triples.
 
With Rantavious Gilbert's 28-point performance leading the way, the Flames shot 42.9 percent on the day.
 
Rebounding in the contest was even as both teams collected 36 boards.
 
The Chargers will now be off through the holidays, returning to action on Jan. 2 when the squad hits the road to the Magnolia State for the Mississippi College-Delta State swing.