BIRMINGHAM, Ala. | For the third time in program history, The University of Alabama in Huntsville men's basketball team captured the Gulf South Conference title as it defeated Valdosta State 94-91 in the 2017 VisitSpaceCoast.com GSC Men's Basketball Championship on Sunday afternoon at the Pete Hanna Center.
 
The Chargers are now 24-7 on the season, while Valdosta State is 26-5.
 
UAH is now guaranteed a berth in the 2017 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball South Regional, and the entire tournament field and seeding will be announced in a selection on Sunday night at 9:30 p.m. on ncaa.com.
 
Turning Points
-After Valdosta State jumped out to a 12-point lead at the midway point of the opening period, the Chargers outscored the Blazers 29-13 over the remaining minutes of the half to go in front by as many as eight en route to holding a 46-42 edge at the break. Seab Webster was especially strong in the stretch, scoring 10 points, and the team was 5-for-8 from beyond the arc during the run.
-The Chargers went 9-for-11 at the charity stripe in the final minute to keep the Blazers at bay and preserve the victory.
 
Inside the Box Score
-Webster – who was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player – was terrific in the game, going 10-for-18 from the floor including five 3-pointers while scoring 35, and the senior recorded a double-double as he also grabbed 11 rebounds.
-Proving to be a huge spark off the bench for the Chargers, Chayse Elliott scored 17, while Troy Saxton added 15 on his way to also landing on the all-tournament team.
-Saxton also dished out a team-high eight assists in the victory.
-Josh Lemons led Valdosta with 17 points, and UAH largely held GSC Player of the Year Jeremiah Hill in check as he scored 14 on 5-of-13 shooting.
-For the game, the Chargers 46.6 percent including 13-for-32 from beyond the arc, while VSU shot 50.0 percent.
-The rebounding battle was tight with VSU holding a 35-34 edge, and the Chargers grabbed seven offensive boards to hold a 10-8 edge in second-chance points.
 
Inside the Flow
-Valdosta State controlled play through much of the opening minutes, holding the Chargers to a 5-of-16 effort from the floor during the game's first ten minutes en route to building up the 29-17 lead at the 10:03 mark, but UAH then went on a 29-9 run over nearly nine minutes to go up 46-38 with just over a minute left in the half.
-The top-seeded Blazers then scored the next five straight including the first bucket of the second half to cut the lead down to just three at 46-43.
-Though the teams exchanged blows throughout the period, UAH never surrendered the advantage, going back in front by as many as nine when Elliott hit a big 3-pointer at the 3:03 mark to put the Chargers ahead 85-76.
-VSU then went on an 11-3 run over the next 2:36 to cut it to 88-87 with just under 30 seconds left in the game.
-Saxton hit a pair of free throws to put the Chargers back ahead by three, and that would be a familiar refrain in the final moments as Saxton hit another pair with 10 seconds left and Webster scored his final points with five seconds remaining to ice the contest as VSU's shot at the buzzer would not go.
 
Noteworthy
-This is UAH's second title in the past three seasons, and it is the third since 2012 as the program moves to 3-3 in tournament title games.
-Webster earns Most Outstanding Player honors for the second time in his career as he was also the top player of the 2015 tournament.
-Webster now owns nine double-doubles on the year, and the scoring performance was his fourth of at least 30 points this season.