HUNTSVILLE | The University of Alabama in Huntsville men's basketball held on for a 77-73 victory over Valdosta State on Tuesday evening at Kelly Court at Spragins Hall, punching its ticket into the 2022 Gulf South Conference Men's Basketball Championship presented by TicketSmarter. The Chargers improve to 17-10 (10-8 GSC), while VSU slips to 11-15 (7-12 GSC).
 
UAH will be making its fourth straight trip to the postseason and third consecutive under head coach John Shulman.
 
In the win on Tuesday, the Chargers were led by Chaney Johnson who went 10-for-14 from the floor on his way to scoring 24 to go along with eight rebounds and a block.
 
Three other Chargers scored in double figures including Luke Burnett who had 15 and CJ Williamson who had 14, while Max Shulman logged his third double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 boards in addition to handing out a pair of assists and collecting three steals.
 
The third steal of the game for Shulman came at a most opportune time as he swiped it away from a Blazer with the Chargers having just gone ahead at 75-73 after Williamson's bucket with seven seconds left in the game.
 
Shulman then went down to the other end and buried a pair of free throws to create the 77-73 final.
 
The game did not appear headed to a photo finish as UAH jumped out to a 23-12 lead by the 12:24 mark of the opening half, and the team would go up by as many as 13 in the first 20 minutes on their way to a 42-31 advantage at the halftime break.
 
The second half started strong for the Chargers who scored the first nine points to claim their largest lead of the night at 51-31 with 17:18 left in the contest, but from that point, the visitors really started applying pressure, cutting their deficit to single-digits at 53-44 less than three minutes later. 
 
The Blazers eventually tied the game for the first time at 73-73 with 33 seconds left in the contest, and the Chargers responded with a perfectly-timed offensive possession that culminated with Williamson's bucket late in the shot clock to give VSU only a minimal amount of time left in the contest, leading to the steal from Shulman to ice the game.
 
UAH shot 43.1 percent in the contest compared to a 42.6 percent shooting mark for VSU, and UAH absolutely dominated the Blazers on the glass, grabbing 51 rebounds – of which 22 were on the offensive end – to VSU's 28. 
 
The Chargers finished the night with a 20-7 edge in second-chance points, and UAH also enjoyed a wide 46-22 difference in the paint.
 
UAH will return to action on Thursday when the squad welcomes Mississippi College to town. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m. at Kelly Court at Spragins Hall.