HUNTSVILLE | Providing Lennie Acuff with his 500th career victory, the No. 25 University of Alabama in Huntsville men's basketball team defeated Shorter on Thursday night at Kelly Court at Spragins Hall by an 83-75 score. The Chargers improve to 12-4 (8-2 Gulf South Conference), while the Hawks slip to 10-6 (4-6 GSC).
 
Turning Point
-After the visitors had trimmed what had been a 12-point lead for the Chargers to just one with two minutes remaining in the ballgame, Brandon Roberts hit a 3-pointer and made a layup fall on consecutive UAH possessions to push the lead back out to seven at 77-71 and effectively seal the contest with just over a minute left.
 
Inside the Box Score
-Seab Webster scored 16 points – all of which came in the second half – to lead a strong group of six Chargers who scored in double figures, and the senior also added seven rebounds.
-Chayse Elliott continued his hot ways and scored 13 with 11 coming in the opening 20 minutes and Troy Saxton added 12, while both Roberts and Kip Owens chipped in with 11.
-Rounding out the double-figure contingent was Justin Ward who came off the bench to score 10.
-Saxton led the Chargers on the boards as he grabbed eight rebounds on the night.
-Shorter was led by Phil Taylor who scored 24 – more than 10 points under his season scoring average – and Eric Ross who scored 16 to go along with 24 rebounds.
-The Chargers shot 43.8 percent on the night and turned in a defensive effort that held Shorter to shoot just 39.7 percent including a 6-for-30 showing from 3-point land.
-UAH also won the battle on the glass by a 44-41 margin.
 
Inside the Flow
-UAH grabbed the game's first significant lead, going on a 9-0 run after falling behind by a pair to go ahead 9-2 at the 16:29 mark of the opening half, but the Hawks would go on a 13-3 run over a span of just under four minutes to take a 15-12 lead with 12:41 remaining in the period.
-After four ties and a pair of lead changes and with Shorter again up by three at 24-21 just past the midway point of the half, the Chargers would go on a 17-5 run to grab its largest lead of the half at 38-29 with two minutes on the clock, and Shorter would add a late free throw to create a 38-30 advantage for the Chargers at the break.
-The Hawks would cut the deficit to five just over two minutes into the second half, but the UAH would lead would then grow back to as much as 12 when Justin Ward's layup fell at the 8:17 mark to give the Chargers a 65-53 advantage.
-Then over the next six minutes, Taylor would score 13 of his points to help spur on an 18-7 run for Shorter that pulled the Hawks within one at 72-71 with just 2:01 left, but then Roberts would have his five-point stretch and the Hawks would only hit two more shots in the final seconds while Owens and Saxton hit key free throws to help wrap up the win.
 
Noteworthy
-Acuff's 500th win – featured in more detail here – was the second milestone in the GSC on Thursday night as Valdosta State's Mike Helfer won his 400th career game as VSU beat Delta State, leaving UAH and the Blazers tied for first in the GSC standings.
-Elliott has now scored in double figures in four straight games, and his season scoring average is up to a season-high 7.4 points per game.
-Thursday night's game marks the ninth time this season that Webster has scored in double figures.
-The eight rebounds for Saxton marks a season-high for the senior.
 
Next Time Out
-The Chargers will be back at it on Saturday afternoon when the team travels to Cleveland, Tennessee, to face Lee. Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m. CST.