The UAH men's basketball team doesn't need video study to know the challenge in front of them from Nova Southeastern. The Chargers saw it in person.
UAH opened the season with a 101-81 loss to Nova Southeastern in the SBC Hall of Fame Classic in Lakeland, Florida. Lose to the Sharks again today, and UAH's season will include bookend losses to Nova Southeastern.
The teams get together on Tuesday with the NCAA Division II South Region championship on the line. Nova Southeastern will play host to the Chargers with tip-off scheduled for 6 p.m. CT at Rick Case Arena.
"We're really good at redemption games," UAH head coach John Shulman said after his team beat Gulf Southern Conference Tournament champion West Alabama. "We got one more coming. We don't like losing. When we lose, we take it personal."
Shulman knew what he was getting his team into when the Chargers opened the season against No. 4 ranked Nova Southeastern and No. 6 ranked Lincoln Memorial. He was looking to challenge his team, which was playing without injured starter CJ Williamson.
In the opener, Nova Southeastern had 16 3-pointers and six players reached double figures. UAH, on the other hand, turned the ball over 19 times, and that led to 33 Nova Southeastern points. The next game, the Chargers rebounded with an 83-81 win over Lincoln Memorial, playing in the Southeast Regional championship game on Tuesday.
For UAH, the difficult weekend was a springboard to a season that included 25 wins, a Gulf South Conference regular season co-championship and now another trip to the South Region final. The last time UAH made the region championship game ended with an 89-75 loss to top seed Flagler in 2021. The previous time UAH made the Elite 8 was in 2012.
Nova Southeastern's win over UAH in the season opener was the first of 32 wins in a row. The Sharks have just two wins this season that didn't include a double-digit final deficit. They average 103.6 points per game, with high scores of 153 and 132 points.
Last season, the Sharks won their first 31 games and captured the region title. They lost in the Elite Eight. In 2019, they also lost in the Elite Eight.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email steve.irvine@1819news.com.
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