JACKSON, Tenn. – The Union University men's basketball suffered an 81-73 loss to the University of Alabama in Huntsville Saturday night at Fred DeLay Gymnasium. Union dropped to 12-3 on the season and 6-3 in the Gulf South Conference. Alabama Huntsville improved to 11-4 overall and 6-3 in league play.
 
The loss for Union snapped a four-game winning streak and put the Bulldogs into a four-way tie for first place with Alabama Huntsville, Delta State (Miss.), and Shorter (Ga.).
 
Alabama Huntsville starting the scoring on a layup from Greg Gardner. Union's Ashanti Day followed with a 3-pointer to put the Bulldogs up 3-2. Union led again 5-4 before UAH jumped up 13-8. Huntsville led by as many as eight points midway through the first half. Union did battle back and with 5:41 left to play, took a brief 29-28 lead. A 13-4 run for the Bulldogs sparked the rally. However, Alabama Huntsville regained the lead and went back up by five points. Union again rallied to tie the game at 38-38, before going into the locker room down just 40-29.
 
The first half featured an impressive showing with both No. 24's handling most of the scoring responsibilities. Huntsville's Seab Webster scored 23 first half points, while Union's Ashanti Day scored 21 points in the first half. Both led their respective teams in scoring on the night.
 
Union's Corieon Pearson opened the second half with a personal 5-0 run including a 3-pointer to start play. The teams went back-and-forth in the final 20 minutes as the two squads were fighting for their place atop the GSC standings. The half featured five ties and 12 lead changes just in the final 20 minutes.
 
Union's last lead was 66-65 with 6:48 left to play. However, a 6-0 run by UAH put the Chargers in position to move into a tie atop the standings. Union cut the deficit down to just three points twice in the final 1:46, including 74-71 with just 59 seconds left to play. However, the Chargers made 6-of-8 free throws down the stretch and Union couldn't get a shot to fall late. The eight point win for UAH, 81-73, match the largest lead of the game for either team.
 
After shooting 50 percent (7-14) from 3-point range in the first half, Union managed just 4-of-20 (20%) from long range in the second half. Union also posted their worth free throw shooting night of the season at 50 percent (10-20).
 
Union was led by Day with 29 points and 10 rebounds. Pearson added 15 points and Marterrace Brock scored 10 points. Union shot 41 percent from the field, 32 percent (11-34) from long range, and 50 percent (10-20) from the free throw line.
 
Alabama Huntsville was led by Webster with a game-high 33 points. Preston Herring scored 12 points with 10 rebounds, while Ronnie Mack scored 12 points and Greg Gardner added 11 points. The Chargers shot 47 percent from the field, 27 percent (6-22) from long range, and 63 percent (15-24) from the free throw line.
 
Up next for Union will be a road game at North Alabama Monday, January 12. The game can be heard live on 93.1 FM or online at www.uuathletics.com/live.
 
#UNION#