MONTEVALLO, Ala. | The No. 16 University of Alabama in Huntsville men's basketball team earned a gritty 56-48 victory to open the John Shulman era, knocking off Saint Leo in a neutral site game played at Montevallo. The Chargers start the season at 1-0, while SLU begins at 0-1.
 
Turning Point
-With Saint Leo leading 37-32 with 11:48 remaining in the game, an 8-0 run for the Chargers punctuated by a 3-ball from Triston Chambers put UAH ahead for the first time in the game, and the team would not relinquish the lead the rest of the way.
 
Inside the Box Score
-Chambers had a terrific debut game for UAH as the redshirt junior transfer from Samford went 7-for-8 overall an 3-for-4 from 3-point land on his way to scoring 19 points, and he scored 12 in the final four minutes of the first half to help UAH climb out of a significant early hole.
-Preseason All-GSC honoree JJ Kaplan picked up where he left off a year ago, recording a double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds.
-Kerney Lane handed out a team-best four assists in the victory.
-For the game, UAH shot 39.1 percent, and a strong defensive effort held the Lions to a 32.8 percent shooting mark including a 7-for-31 performance in the second half.
-On the glass, SLU outrebounded the Chargers by a 37-33 margin.
-Behind the strong showing from Chambers, UAH's reserves outscored Saint Leo's by a 31-12 difference.
 
Inside the Flow
-Saint Leo scored nine of the game's first 11 points to go up 9-2 at the 15:06 mark of the opening half, and the Lions would eventually go ahead by 17 at 27-10 with 5:12 left in the period.
-The tide would start to be turned, however, as 12 points from Chambers including a pair of triples, a Lane 3-pointer, and a Kaplan layup helped the Chargers cut the deficit to just three at the half at 30-27.
-The Lions would hold UAH scoreless through the first 5:43 of the second half, helping SLU regain a seven-point margin twice before UAH started to whittle away at the deficit again.
-A Sam Orf triple started what would be an 11-1 run over a span of just over four minutes, with the aforementioned Chambers 3-pointer putting UAH ahead 40-37 at the 9:09 mark.
-Saint Leo would pull back within one twice in the final minutes, but the Chargers had an answer both times on their way to securing the victory.
 
Noteworthy
-Kaplan now has nine double-doubles after recording eight in his breakout redshirt sophomore season.
-The 48 points allowed are the fewest for UAH since giving up just 43 to Trevecca Nazarene on Nov. 26 of last season.
-UAH has won 11 consecutive season openers.
 
Next Time Out
-UAH will have a fast turnaround, taking on Tampa at noon on Sunday.