HUNTSVILLE | The No. 19 University of Alabama in Huntsville men's basketball team picked up a 76-70 victory over visiting West Florida on Senior Day at Kelly Court at Spragins Hall on Saturday. The Chargers improve to 20-6 (16-4 Gulf South Conference), while West Florida slips to 17-8 (12-8 GSC).
 
The win clinches a home game for the Chargers in the quarterfinal round of the 2017 VisitSpaceCoast.com GSC Basketball Championships.
 
Turning Point
-An 11-2 run over a nearly three-minute span late in the game that included three straight 3-pointers from the Chargers turned a one-point lead into what would prove to be an insurmountable 10-point lead at 71-61 with less than a minute to go in the game.
 
Inside the Box Score
-Three of UAH's five seniors scored in double figures – and each of them recorded points – in the contest led by Brandon Roberts who hit three 3-pointers and was 5-for-5 at the charity stripe on his way to scoring 22.
-Seab Webster scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half, while Troy Saxton came alive in the second half as he scored 12 of the 14 he finished the night with in the closing 20 minutes.
-Webster also grabbed a team-best eight rebounds, while Saxton dished out a team-high five assists.
-Michael Gilmore added seven and Collin Langley buried a 3-pointer in the final regular season home game for the group of seniors.
-West Florida was led on the afternoon by Jason Laatsch who hit five 3-pointers and scored 18.
-The Chargers finished the contest shooting 46.3 percent from the floor and knocked down 14 3-pointers, while the guests shot 43.3 percent including a 10-for-24 showing from beyond the arc.
-West Florida won the battle on the glass, collecting 38 rebounds to 29 for the Chargers.
 
Inside the Flow
-The Argos led through much of the opening 20 minutes with UAH's first lead of the game coming at the midway point of the first when a Malik Cook-Stroupe 3-pointer put the Chargers ahead 20-19, but UWF then went on an 8-0 run over just more than two minutes to build up its largest lead of the night at 27-20 with 7:07 remaining until the half.
-Both teams closed the period shooting the ball well as UAH was 6-for-9 – and 4-for-7 from 3-point land – while UWF was 6-for-10 overall in the final minutes of the half, sending the teams to the locker room with the visitors leading 42-38.
-A 10-4 spurt to start the second half which included six from Roberts lifted the Chargers back ahead at 48-46 with 16:54 remaining in the game, but West Florida went on a 7-0 run that swung that game back in its favor at 53-48 by the 13:50 mark.
-The next 13 minutes were dominated by the Chargers who outscored UWF 23-8 – including the previously mentioned 11-2 run – to give the hosts the 71-61 lead with just under a minute left.
-UWF made it interesting by hitting three 3-pointers in the final minute, but Roberts, Saxton, and Gilmore all had free throws down the stretch to seal the contest.
 
Noteworthy
-The Chargers have now won at least 20 games in seven of the last eight years.
-UAH finishes the regular season with a 10-2 record at home
-Roberts now has eight 20-point games to his credit, has scored in double figures in 22 games, and is averaging 16.3 points per contest on the year.
-Webster has scored in double figures in 12 straight games dating back to Jan. 12 when he was limited by foul trouble to a seven-point showing.
 
Next Time Out
­-The Chargers will start the final week of the regular season on Thursday when the team travels to Christian Brothers for a 7 p.m. tilt. UAH was an 81-69 winner when the two teams previously met back on Jan. 9 in Huntsville.