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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. | For the fourth time in the past five seasons, The University of Alabama in Huntsville men's basketball team has advanced to the conference tournament semifinals, taking on West Alabama on Saturday at 7:15 p.m. at the Pete Hanna Center on the campus of Samford University in the 2019 VisitSpaceCoast.com GSC Men's Basketball Championship.
 
The Chargers enter the game at 23-6, while UWA is 22-6.
 
UAH – who is 3-0 in its last three semifinal appearances – advanced to Saturday night with a 68-66 win over West Georgia in Huntsville on Tuesday, using a JJ Kaplan bucket with 6.8 seconds remaining in regulation to earn the victory. 
 
The Tigers had a tight game of their own, going to overtime before defeating Lee 74-69.
 
Close was also the story of the two previous meetings between UAH and West Alabama this season, with the Tigers winning 65-64 on their last possession in Huntsville on Jan. 17, and UWA followed that up with an 80-76 win in overtime on Feb. 7 in Livingston.
 
Seth Swalve has led UAH in both games against the Tigers on the year, going 5-for-7 and scoring 14 in the home game before following that up with 21 points in the setback at UWA.
 
Both teams are strong defensively, with UWA leading the league by allowing teams to score just 65.5 points per game, while UAH is third with an opponent scoring average of 65.8 points per contest.
 
Offensively, however, the Chargers are fifth with 75.5 points per contest compared to UWA who ranks 10th at 69.6 points per game, and there is also a significant advantage for UAH in field goal percentage as the Blue and White lead the league by shooting 50.1 percent with UWA in ninth at 44.9 percent.
 
LaJuan Hardy and Josh Fleming lead UWA offensively, scoring 13.4 and 13.2 points per game, respectively. 
 
The two teams have met just once before in the GSC tournament, with UAH winning 73-68 in the title game in 2015.
 
The contest will be broadcast on ESPN 3, and it will also be on the radio in the Tennessee Valley with Steve Moulton and Scott Theisen on the call on 97.7 The Zone.