FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. | The University of Alabama in Huntsville men's basketball team saw its fantastic 2018-19 season come to a close on Saturday as the Chargers fell 81-68 to Lynn in the opening round of the 2019 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball South Regional.
 
UAH finishes the season at 24-8 which marks an eight-win improvement from a season ago, while the Fighting Knights advance at 24-6.
 
The contest marks the final one for UAH's two seniors Tanner Finley and Elijah Garrison who during their tenure in Huntsville went to three NCAA tournament.
 
On Saturday, Finley was one of four Chargers who scored in double figures as he knocked down four 3-pointers to finish the game with 14.
 
UAH was led by JJ Kaplan who notched his eighth double-double of his terrific sophomore campaign by scoring 16 and grabbing 12 rebounds.
 
Sam Orf scored 13 and Seth Swalve chipped in with 12 to close out their sophomore seasons.
 
The Chargers started the game on fire, scoring eight of the game's first nine points on their way to eventually holding a 19-10 lead after an Orf bucket at the 12:34 mark of the opening half, but Lynn would battle back, with the lead exchanging hands seven times before UAH carried a 41-39 lead into the break.
 
A 16-5 run for the Fighting Knights to start the second half pushed Lynn in front by a 55-46 score with 14:11 left in the game, but UAH would slowly chip away, with a Finley 3-pointer with 8:16 remaining pulling the Chargers to within four at 63-59.
 
Lynn then scored six straight to push the lead out to double digits on its way to leading by as many as 16 down the stretch in earning the victory.
 
For the game, the Fighting Knights shot 54.0 percent and held UAH to a 31.3 percent mark in the second half to give the Chargers a 43.1 percent shooting mark for the contest.
 
UAH was strong from beyond the arc, connecting on 12 3-pointers to make Saturday the first time this season in 17 games that the Chargers lost a game in which they made 10 or more 3-pointers.
 
Lynn also won the rebounding battle, grabbing 37 to UAH's 23.
 
The Chargers will return the vast majority of its roster next season, including four of the team's top five scorers.
 
Orf finishes the season at the top of UAH's offensive ledger with 14.5 points per game, while Kaplan ends the year with a rebounding mark of 8.6 per contest which is the best performance by a Charger since at least the 2002-03 season.