HIGHLIGHTS | PHOTOS
HUNTSVILLE | The University of Alabama in Huntsville men's basketball team remained in a tie for first place in the Gulf South Conference on Thursday night with an 86-78 victory over visiting Christian Brothers at Kelly Court at Spragins Hall in a game that featured four ties and 16 lead changes.
 
The Chargers improve to 19-7 (14-6 GSC) with the win, while Christian Brothers slips to 14-10 (11-9 GSC). With West Alabama also winning on Thursday night, UAH remains in a deadlock with UWA at the top of the standings, while West Georgia sits one game back at 13-7 in conference play.
 
Greg Gardner paced the Chargers on Thursday night as the junior poured in a career-best 26 points, while sophomore Troy Saxton also registered a career-best performance with 20 in the contest. Gardner hit six 3-pointers in the contest, added six rebounds and also dished out five assists, while Saxton nailed three from beyond the arc while handing out a team-high five helpers.
 
The pair combined to shoot 75 percent from the floor to help the hosts hit 55.8 percent of their attempts from the field.
 
Two others scored in double figures for the Chargers as Ronnie Mack hit a pair of big triples en route to scoring 12, while reigning GSC Freshman of the Week Justin Ward once again was big off the bench as he matched Mack with 12.
 
Christian Brothers was paced by Charlie Oswald's 25, while Ryan Fleming just missed out on a triple-double as he had 12 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds.
 
After holding as much as a five-point advantage in the period, it was the visitors who held the advantage at the halftime break, but a Saxton layup just prior to the buzzer sounding cut UAH's deficit to just one at 38-37 going into the locker room.
 
A pair of 3s – one from Saxton and one from Mack – put the hosts in front immediately to start the second 20 minutes, and though the lead would exchange hands would seven more times in the first nine minutes of the period, a 7-0 run over two minutes that was keyed by a pair of Gardner triples put the Chargers in front for good at 57-63 with 9:17 left in the game.
 
The Bucs were unable to narrow the gap any closer than three in the game's closing minutes, and UAH was 9-for-10 at the charity stripe in the final minute to secure the win.
 
For the contest, UAH outshot the Bucs as CBU connected on 50.9 percent of its attempts from the floor, and both teams were strong from long-range, hitting 13 triples each. The Bucs held the edge on the glass, grabbing 30 rebounds to the Blue and White's 26.
 
UAH will look to keep pace in the race for the GSC regular season title on Saturday when the squad hosts Union on Senior Day. Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m.