HUNTSVILLE | The University of Alabama in Huntsville men's basketball team closed out the 2017 calendar year in style on Saturday, torching visiting Oakland City 99-72 at Kelly Court at Spragins Hall. With their fourth straight win, the Chargers improve to 9-3, while OCU slips to 8-2.
 
Turning Point
-With UAH holding a two-point advantage at the 7:50 mark of the first half, the hosts limited the Mighty Oaks to just four points and no field goals the rest of the period while outscoring the opponent 24-4 thanks to eight points from JJ Kaplan including back-to-back treys to go into the halftime break leading 48-26.
 
Inside the Box Score
-Six different players scored in double figures led by Kaplan's 19 points, and the freshman turned in a strong overall game as in addition to going 8-for-10 from the floor, the Huntsville native also registered six rebounds, two assists, and block, and a steal.
-Justin Ward scored 16 on the day, while Kip Owens added 14 in addition to matching Kaplan with a team-best six boards.
-Pouring in 13 was Dalton Barkley, while Seth Swalve's 12 and Kerney Lane's 11 rounded out the double-figure scoring contingent for the home team.
-David Anderson and Swalve both logged four assists to lead the team in that catgerogy, while Malik Cook-Stroupe collected a team-best two steals.
-Addison Wagler led all scorers in the contest with 21 points for the Mighty Oaks.
-For the contest, UAH outshot the visitors by a 54.4 percent to 41.2 percent clip, and the Chargers also won the rebounding battle by a 44-30 margin.
-The Chargers were particularly strong inside, scoring 48 points in the paint to 26 for OCU.
 
Inside the Flow
-The guests scored the first bucket of the game and eventually led by as many as five points twice in the opening minutes including holding a 14-9 advantage at the 12:46 mark of the opening half, but the Chargers would then rip off an 11-2 run over the next 2:37 en route to going ahead for the first time in the game.
-The lead would grow to as many as six for UAH before a a brief 4-0 spurt for Oakland City narrowed it down to a two-point game before the Chargers went on the dominant run to end the half.
-A Cook-Stroupe triple to start the second half was a harbinger of things to come for the Chargers in the period as UAH ran out to a 33-point advantage by the 16:35 mark after back-to-back baskets from Swavle made it 66-33.
-The lowest the lead would be the rest of the way was 24, and the Chargers would eventually push the margin all the way to 34 before the game ended with the 99-72 final.
 
Noteworthy
-Kaplan surpasses his previous single-game high of six points which he scored against Tennessee Wesleyan on Nov. 20, and he is now shooting 71.4 percent overall and 66.7 percent 3-point land after going 3-for-3 on Saturday.
-Lane also scores in double figures for the first time as a Charger as the freshman had registered three points against both Oakland City on the road and at West Alabama earlier this year.
-Elijah Garrison set a career-best mark in rebounding in the game as the junior collected five boards.
-The Chargers have now hit 10 or more 3s in each game of the current four-game winning streak.
 
Next Time Out
-The Chargers will ring in 2018 in Mississippi as the team begins a two-game road swing on Tuesday at Delta State. Tip-off in Cleveland is slated for 7:30 p.m.