HUNTSVILLE | The University of Alabama in Huntsville men's basketball team earned some revenge and picked up a thrilling overtime victory over visiting rival Lee on Saturday evening at Kelly Court at Spragins Hall, knocking off the Flames 71-67. The Chargers improve to 15-9 (8-7 Gulf South Conference) with the victory, while Lee drops to 13-8 (9-6 GSC).
 
The Chargers are now 11-1 all-time against the Flames in the friendly confines of the Stable, and UAH has won seven of the last nine meetings against Lee.
 
CJ Williamson continued his torrid ways, scoring 27 after shooting 12-for-18, and he also grabbed a team-best nine rebounds to go along with two steals and an assist.
 
Williamson has averaged 24 points per contest in his last three outings.
 
Joining him with a 20-point game was Chaney Johnson who knocked down 10 shots to score 22 while also collecting eight rebounds, two assists, two steals, and two blocks.
 
The contest was a defensive grind, with Lee's largest lead only being two points – on the first bucket of the game – and UAH only building up its largest lead of the first half near the end of the period when Williamson's layup with just over a second remaining made it a 34-27 advantage at the halftime break.
 
A Johnson jumper to start the scoring in the second half gave UAH the largest lead it would enjoy of the contest at nine, and that margin would be reached twice more including at 45-36 with 16:00 left in regulation. From that point, the Flames would go on a bit of a run, eventually pulling to within one at 47-46 at the 11:20 mark, but the hosts would ultimately push the difference back out to eight after a pair of Max Shulman free throws made it 62-54 with 4:36 left in the second half.
 
Lee would score eight straight to tie the contest at 62-62, and after Williamson made a free throw at one end, the guests would get a free throw of their own at the other to ultimately force overtime at 63-63.
 
The Chargers then dominated the overtime period, holding Lee to a 2-for-6 shooting mark in the extra five minutes, and Johnson would score of UAH's eight points to create the 71-67 final.
 
UAH finished the game shooting 43.3 percent while holding the Flames to a 39.7 percent mark, and the home team won the rebounding battle by a 42-37 margin.
 
The Chargers were quite opportunistic as turnovers in the game were even at 12-12, but UAH outscored Lee 20-6 in points off giveaways. The Blue and White also was quite strong in the paint, building up a 44-22 advantage in lane points.
 
UAH will now go back on the road, traveling to Livingston to take on West Alabama on Wednesday. Tip-off at UWA is slated for 7:30 p.m.