HOMEWOOD, Ala. | For the fourth consecutive year and the 10th time overall, The University of Alabama in Huntsville is headed to the championship game of the conference tournament after winning 76-65 over top-seeded West Alabama on Saturday at the 2022 Gulf South Conference Men's Basketball Championship presented by TicketSmarter. The Chargers improve to 21-10, while UWA falls to 24-6.
 
UAH will take on the winner of Lee and Union at 3 p.m. on Sunday at the Pete Hanna Center on the campus of Samford University.
 
CJ Williamson continued his torrid ways, pouring in 28 points – after scoring 31 against West Georgia in the quarterfinals – while also matching Max Shulman with a team-best seven rebounds. Williamson also handed out three assists and picked up three steals.
 
Joining him in double figures were both Luke Burnett and Chaney Johnson who scored 11.
 
Shulman scored seven to go along with the seven boards, and he also picked up a team-high five steals.
 
The Chargers totaled 14 taking away in the contest with Jack Kostel recording four, and UAH turned that into a key 26-7 difference in points off turnovers.
 
UAH scored the game's first five points, but by the 13:49 mark, West Alabama had gone in front and would eventually hold its largest lead of the night at 21-15 with 7:30 remaining in the opening period. 
 
From that point, there would be six ties and five lead changes before the Chargers took a 35-34 advantage into the locker room at the break.
 
After West Alabama narrowed the gap back to that one-point margin at 42-41 at the 17:09 mark of the second half, UAH would score nine straight – of which six belonged to Williamson – to go in front by double digits for the first time at 51-41 with 12:48 left in the game.
 
The advantage would grow to as many as 13 after Burnett hit a 3-pointer with 8:38 remaining, and West Alabama was unable to pull any closer than seven the rest of the way.
 
For the game, UAH shot 51.9 percent from the floor, while its impressive defensive effort limited West Alabama to a shooting mark of 38.9 percent. 
 
UWA held a slight edge on the glass with a 33-31 margin in rebounding, and a 16-7 difference helped keep the Tigers in the game.
 
The Chargers were dominant inside, outscoring UWA 34-18 in the paint. 
 
In the nine previous championship game appearances, UAH has been a winner four different times: in 2012, 2015, 2017, and 2020, and the three most recent titles have all come at the Pete Hanna Center. 
 
UAH has never met Union or Lee in the championship, but the team is 2-0 against both teams all-time in the tournament.