The No. 25 University of Alabama in Huntsville men's basketball team opened its season defending its preseason ranking with an 18-points win against Harding. UAH (1-0) earned a 96-78 win against the Bisons (2-2) as a trio of Chargers hit double-digit scoring totals.
The Chargers began the night with a quick 8-0 lead as Xavier Martinez proved to have the hot hand on the night, scoring five of his team-leading 25 points through the game to begin the run. While UAH maintained its hold on the lead, Harding challenged the Chargers' hold on it several minutes into the game, cutting the lead down to 13-10.
UAH, however, continued to pour on the point to create some scoring separation as a Jordan Mabe layup and Owen Lentz three-pointer pushed the lead back to eight with 13 minutes remaining in the first half. The back-and-forth continued, though, as Harding was able to cut into the UAH lead with several free throws over the next several minutes before tying the score at 26 apiece after sinking eight shots from the charity stripe over a seven-minute period. The remainder of the half became a battle for supremacy as Knute Wood got the Chargers back on top with a pair of baskets before Harding answered with a basket of its own.
Through the final five minutes, the Bisons held a 17-12 scoring advantage, though only led by one point, 43-42, at the halftime break as the Chargers got a collective effort from a variety of scorers to support their run as Bryce Mason and Mabe scored twice while Martinez dropped in a pair of free throws and Wood hit a final two to close the half.
Martinez opened the second half with three to put the Chargers on top, 45-43. However, Harding was able to respond with six points of its own before Martinez cut the scoring run with another three. This was par for the course in the first five minutes of the half before UAH began to pull away beginning with Martinez's third three of the half before Jax Abernathy added a layup to take a lead the Chargers never relinquished the remainder of the game after moving ahead, 53-51.
While back-and-forth over the next several minutes, UAH opened up the lead for good with just over seven minutes remaining. Martinez kicked off a 14-0 run with a pair of free throws before Wood added two more before finishing off a layup. Layups from Preston Parker and Jordan Mabe continued the run before a pair of free throws from Mabe and a jumper from Mason gave UAH a 85-70 lead.
With a substantial lead and less than four minutes remaining, the Chargers never let up the pressure and put away the win on an 11-8 advantage to close the game.
IN THE STATS
Xavier Martinez led UAH in scoring with 25 points while Knute Wood and Jordan Mabe both reached double digits with 17 and 16 points, respectively.
Martinez did the bulk of his shooting from beyond the arc, hitting five-of-six attempts.
Mabe and Griffin Cooper controlled the paint for UAH with five rebounds each while Wood and Preston Parker each grabbed another four boards.
COMING UPÂ
UAH will remain at home as the Chargers host the GSC-SSC Crossover on Friday and Saturday with an opening game against Barry at 5:30 p.m. Friday.
