UAH cut down the nets at Spragins Hall on Saturday afternoon after the Chargers beat Valdosta 93-81 to claim a share of the 2022-2023 men’s basketball regular season title. It was the first regular season GSC men’s basketball championship for the Chargers since the 2015-2016 season.
West Alabama shares the championship with UAH, but the Chargers will be the No. 1 seed in the Gulf South Conference Tournament.
UAH (24-6 overall, 19-5 GSC) took the lead for good with 12:08 remaining before halftime. It was Dane Harding’s 3-pointer which gave the Chargers the 16-13 lead. By halftime, UAH had the lead stretched out to 47-37. The Chargers led by as many as 20 points in the second half.
Luke Burnett had 25 points for the Chargers. He was 9 of 15 overall, 7 of 11 on 3-pointers and also added three steals. Max Shulman filled up the stat sheet with 15 points, six rebounds, nine assists, a block, a steal and just one turnover in 29 minutes. Chaney Johnson and Jack Kostel each had 12 points with Johnson adding eight rebounds and Kostel adding six assists. Harding had nine points and seven assists.
Valdosta State fell to 18-12 overall and 14-10 in GSC.
UAH begins play in the GSC Tournament with a quarterfinal game against Mississippi College on Tuesday night at 7 at Spragins Hall.
West Alabama 74, West Florida 66: West Alabama won at least a share of the GSC title for the second consecutive season. This is the first time in program history that the Tigers are back-to-back champions.
The Tigers staked their claim to the title with a strong second half performance. West Florida (13-15 overall, 9-15 conference) carried a 36-32 lead into halftime. West Alabama started strong in the second half and took control just past the midway point of the final 20 minutes.
Kuran Garner had 18 points and three rebounds, Justin Allison chipped in with 15 points, eight rebounds and three assists and Shardarrionbn Allen totaled 13 points, 12 rebounds and four steals.
West Alabama, the No. 2 seed, plays host to Union in the GSC Tournament quarterfinals on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Pruitt Hall Gymnasium.
Alabama A&M 55, Alabama State 50: Alabama A&M earned a split of the season series behind the play of Messiah Thompson. The 5-foot-8, 170-pound junior from Atlanta had 17 points, four 3-pointers and three steals in the victory on Alabama State’s home floor.
It was close throughout, but the Bulldogs didn’t trail in the first half. Alabama State’s first lead came when Roland McCoy’s 3-pointer gave the Hornets a 35-34 advantage with 15:47 left the game. The Hornets stretched the lead to as many as five points.
Alabama A&M eventually took the lead for good a pair of free throws by Cameron Tucker with 2:19 left. The Bulldogs were clinging to a 51-50 lead when Alabama State’s Eric Coleman hit a 3-pointer with 3.3 seconds remaining. After looking at the replay monitor, the officials waved off the basket and called Coleman for a flagrant foul. Eric Hicks followed with four throws to seal the win for the Bulldogs.
McCoy had a team-high 18 points with six 3-pointers for the Hornets.
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