FLORENCE, Ala. | The No. 5 University of Alabama in Huntsville men's basketball team survived its first test of the season as Troy Saxton hit a late 3-pointer to lift his team to an 82-80 victory over Saint Leo at North Alabama on Saturday night. The Chargers start the season out at 1-0, while SLU begins at 0-1.
 
Turning Point
-With the Chargers trailing by a point at 80-79, Saxton grabbed a key defensive rebound with just under a minute left in the contest, and then late in the shot clock on the ensuing possession, the senior buried a triple to put UAH up 82-80. Saint Leo then would take three more attempts thanks to a pair of offensive boards in the final 26 seconds of the game, but the Lions were unable to make any of the contested shots fall as UAH held on for the victory.
 
Inside the Box Score
-Saxton led a group of five players for UAH who scored in double figures as he was 7-for-9 from the field en route to scoring 20. Kip Owens added 16, while Justin Ward came off the bench to score 13. Seab Webster chipped in with 12, and rounding out the double-digit scorers was Brandon Roberts who recorded 11.
-Grabbing a team-best 12 rebounds, Webster started off his senior season with a double-double.
-Owens was also strong on the glass as he grabbed six rebounds including a pair on the offensive end.
-For the game, UAH connected on 47.4 percent of its attempts while holding Saint Leo to a shooting mark of 38.0 percent.
-The Chargers were uncharacteristically cold from long-range, going just 5-for-19 in 3-point attempts, while the opposition was 9-for-30 from downtown.
-Conversely, UAH was especially strong in the paint, outscoring Saint Leo 42-28 in the lane.
-Saint Leo held a slim 46-45 advantage in rebounding.
 
Inside the Flow
-UAH opened up a four-point lead at the 14:33 mark of the first half, but that would be as far as either team could extend the lead in the opening 20 minutes as the stanza featured 12 lead changes and eight ties before SLU took a 33-30 lead into the locker room at the break.
-The opening minutes of the second half was more of the same until Saint Leo was able to push the margin out to seven at 59-52 with 11:25 remaining, but by the 8:29 mark it was again a one-point game as a pair of Ward free throws made it 59-58.
-Saint Leo then went on a 14-7 run, and with 5:55 on the clock, the opponent held a 73-65 advantage for the largest lead either team would have on the night.
-The Chargers then scored the next nine points over a span of just over two minutes as Owens made a layup fall at the 3:42 mark to place UAH back in front for the first time in more than 11 minutes at 74-73.
-The teams then traded points including a sequence with just over two minutes left when Marcus Dewberry hit a trey to put SLU up 78-76 only to see Brandon Roberts answer on the other end with a triple of his own to put the Chargers back in front 79-78.
-Necdet Gurkan then put the Lions up 80-79 at the 1:33 mark to set-up the late heroics from Saxton that would seal the game for the Blue and White.
 
Noteworthy
-The double-double for Webster is the seventh of the preseason honorable mention All-American's career.
-This marks the first time during his career that Saxton has paced the Chargers in scoring.
-UAH made less than five 3-pointers only once last season – an 86-82 win on Super Tuesday of the Gulf South Conference tournament.
 
Next Time Out
-The Chargers will be right back at it on Sunday when the team takes on Tampa at UNA. Tip-off is slated for noon.