Tigers Fall To GSC East-Leading UAH, 82-75

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – The University of West Alabama dropped a hard fought, 82-75, Gulf South Conference match up to East-leading UAH on Saturday night at Spragins Hall.

With North Alabama’s setback to West Florida on Saturday, the Chargers (15-7, 6-2 GSC) moved in sole possession of the top spot in the division with the win.  UWA fell to 10-12 overall and 2-5 in league play.

In a battle of two of the top five three-point shooting teams in GSC games only, the Chargers and Tigers lived up to the billing in the opening half, as UAH scored 12 of its 39 first half points from behind the three-point stripe.  UWA connected on four treys in the first 20 minutes, including Jamaine Nance’s triple at the halftime buzzer to trim UAH’s lead to 39-38.  Tiger junior forward Lucas Hall controlled the paint, reaching double figures by intermission with 12 points.  Hall led all Tigers in scoring with a 16-point effort.

After the Red and White took its second lead of the half at 58-57 on a Brandon Hampton lay up, UAH put together an 8-0 run to take its largest lead of the contest at 65-58 with 6:57 left in the contest.  The scoring spurt was charged by a pair of Luc Graves three-pointers.  UAH took its third seven-point advantage of the half at 71-64 at the 4:06 mark, but the Tigers trimmed the lead down to one point at 71-70 with 3:19 on the clock after a pair of Chris Davis treys.  Davis finished the game 5-of-9 from the behind the arc and 15 point in the affair.  The Blue and White stretched its lead back out to as many as seven points again with just 51 second left in the contest to seal the win.

For the 14^th straight game, UWA forward Jason Swanson posted double digit scoring with 11 points.  The Troy, Ala.-product also secured his ninth double-double of the season and his fourth-straight double-double. Nance, who hails from Huntsville, Ala., turned in nine points.  As a team, UWA claimed the rebounding edge, 40-31.

UAH had five players in double figures, led by Jordon Brewer’s 18 points.

The Tigers return to GSC action on Thursday, Feb. 12, welcoming West Georgia to Pruitt Hall.  Tip off is set for 7:30 p.m. on the UWA campus.  The game will be carried on the B2 Network and through live stats at athletics.uwa.edu.