ST. JOSEPH, Mo. | The No. 20 University of Alabama in Huntsville men's basketball team opened the new campaign on Saturday at the 2021 Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic, falling in a tightly-contested game by a 77-71 score to No. 21 Seattle Pacific. UAH starts the year at 0-0, while the Falcons begin at 1-0.
 
Redshirt freshman Luke Burnett and transfer junior CJ Williamson excelled for the Chargers in the contest, as Burnett made five 3-pointers on his way to scoring a team-best 21 while Williamson had a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds in his debut in the Blue and White.
 
Redshirt freshman Chaney Johnson scored 14 while also grabbing eight boards in rounding out UAH's double-figure scorers. 
 
The point totals for both Burnett and Johnson are career-bests for the pair.
 
UAH built up a three-point advantage on four different occasions in the game's opening nine minutes, but with the Chargers holding a 17-14 lead at the 11:13 mark of the opening half, Seattle Pacific would go on a 20-7 run over the next 7:31 to go up 34-24 on its way to a 40-33 lead at the half.
 
The lead would grow to as many as 11 less than a minute into the second half before the Chargers scored 10 straight to make it a one-point game at 46-45 after a Burnett triple at the 14:56 mark. Just over a minute later Dane Harding would hit a trey of his own to tie the contest at 48-48, but another strong spurt from SPU would put the team up by a 63-54 score with 8:21 left in the game.
 
The Chargers would fight back and pull back within two at 65-63 with 5:26 remaining, but Seattle Pacific would eventually stretch the lead out to as many as eight down the stretch in picking up the win.
 
For the contest, UAH shot 42.4 percent from the floor compared to a 45.8 percent shooting mark for SPU, but the Chargers did outrebound the Falcons by a 43-31 margin. 
 
The 43 rebounds match last season's single-game high which came against Valdosta State in the GSC tournament championship game.
 
UAH will have a quick turnaround, switching its attention to Embry-Riddle on Sunday afternoon. Tip-off in St. Joseph is slated for 3:15 p.m.