UAH rallies past Delta State in GSC semifinal

3/4/2016 11:52:42 PM

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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Defending GSC Tournament champion Alabama Huntsville rallied from 13 down to beat fifth-seed Delta State, 87-71, Friday night and advance to the 2015-16 VisitSpaceCoast.com Gulf South Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament championship game at the Pete Hanna Center.

BY THE NUMBERS

Teams	1	2	Total
Delta State (19-11)	44	27	71
Alabama Huntsville (23-6)	37	50	87

Game Leaders	UAH	Union
Points	Brandon Roberts \| 24 Seab Webster \| 16 Greg Gardner \| 11 Troy Saxton \| 11	Devin Schmidt \| 37 Brett Warner \| 11
Rebounds	Greg Gardner \| 6	Devin Schmidt \| 7
Assists	Greg Gardner \| 7	Jack Madgen \| 6

KEY MOMENTS
Devin Schmidt swiped a steal and fastbreak layup on the opening possession of the game en route to a 28-point first half. DSU led the entire half, despite Justin Ward cutting it to a 1-point game, 13-12, with a 3-pointer five minute into the game. Schmidt followed the 3 with his own to keep the Statesmen in front. The lead grew to 13 points, 44-31, following another Schmidt steal and layup. However, UAH opened the second half on a 12-2 run, which was part of a larger 19-4 run following a DSU technical foul late in the first half. UAH’s Brandon Roberts, a transfer from Samford University, drove to the basket to tie it, 48-48, with 15:21 to play and followed with a baseline layup to take the lead, 50-48. The lead flipped back and forth until Birmingham-native Michael Gilmore hit a 3 with just under 10 minutes to play to spark an 11-0 run for the Chargers. UAH outscored the Statesmen 25-8 in the final 10 minutes of the game to pull away.

QUOTABLE
"I’m really proud of our guys tonight and the way they stayed the course. I thought Delta State and, obviously, Schmidt were fantastic in the first half. We were fortunate to only be down seven (at the half). The second half was about as good as we could play. We have contributions from so many guys and I thought Brandon (Roberts) just took the game over for about a 7-8 minute stretch. We have a short turnaround to get ready for an outstanding West Georgia team." - Lennie Acuff, UAH head coach.

NOTABLE
- UAH advances to its fifth GSC Tournament final and is looking to win its third GSC Tournament title in five years, winning in 2012 and 2015.
-Devin Schmidt scored a single-half career-high with 28 points in the first half and tied his single-game career high with 37 points.
- UAH was called for a season-low 12 personal fouls.
- UAH is now 14-18 all-time against Delta State.
- UAH is ranked No. 1 in the NCAA Division II South Region Rankings, while Delta State is ranked No. 9.

UP NEXT
Alabama Huntsville will meet No. 2 West Georgia in the 2015-16 VisitSpaceCoast Gulf South Conference Men’s Basketball Championships final Saturday, March 5 at 4 p.m. CT on ESPN3.