UAH Chargers - Basketball

Huntsville, AL

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Basketball

Campaign draws crowds at Charger basketball games

Written by Lisa Barbella
Monday, 08 February 2010
An explosion of interest in UAH basketball among the student body has occurred this season resulting in near capacity crowds and a routinely packed student section in Spragins Hall. The enthusiastic fans have contributed to a strong home court advantage for the Chargers this season. “Having a great crowd really boosts the team’s energy,” said David Ivey, Assistant Coach of the men’s basketball team. The effort to attract fans to the games has been spearheaded by Communications Arts instructor Kristin Scroggin and her team of students. Scroggin wanted to increase student involvement on campus and saw basketball as the perfect medium to get students participating in school events. “The basketball team plays within walking distance of the dorms so all students can come even if they live on campus and don’t have cars,” explained Scroggin. “Plus it is a pretty easy game to understand, so everyone can get excited and cheer about it. It is easy to watch and fast paced.” Scroggin and her team started the campaign with the December 5th game against Oakwood. They attached fliers to students’ cars to spread the word and planted energetic students in the crowd to encourage other fans to cheer. The success of that event led them to plan other activities to draw students to the games. The January 14th doubleheader against Lambuth featured a “Blue-Out” event. Students who wore blue were admitted to the floor seats and given a blue and white shaker. Students were treated to a tailgate before the January 16th game against UNA. Participants set up tents and grills to serve food and SGA provided pizza. SGA gave away fifty T-shirts printed with the logo “grab your balls, its UAH hoops time,” which quickly became a wildly popular item among UAH fans. After the tailgate, students and fans flooded Spragins Hall, producing the largest documented home crowd ever. The January 30th games against West Alabama were deemed Engineers Night to attract the nearly 50% of the student body who majors in engineering. The first 100 engineering students to arrive received a free “just another ballin’ UAH engineer” t-shirt and the six engineering students from the men’s and women’s teams sported the shirts during warm-ups. Upcoming events include the National Pan-Hellenic Council Night during the February 18th games against West Georgia. The night will be sponsored by five fraternities and sororities and will include a halftime unity stroll and a stroll-off after the games. The women’s game begins at 5:30 p.m. and the men’s game begins at 7:30 p.m. February 20th will be Senior Night as the Chargers take on Valdosta State at 5 and 7 p.m. This is the last home game of the season and will honor Charger seniors playing their on the Spragins Hall floor for the last time. In addition, the winner of an RCA 40-inch flat screen television will be announced. The support of student organizations has been vital to the success of the campaign. “The SGA (Student Government Association) has been phenomenal,” stated Scroggin. “They provided a lot of the manpower and money whenever we needed it.” SGA sponsored a half-time shoot out during the UNA game and awarded a blu-ray disc player to the winner. They also purchased the flat screen for the giveaway. The group gave out punch cards earlier this year which had to be punched at least four times over the next six home games in order for a student to qualify for the drawing. Students must turn their cards in before Senior Night in order to qualify for the drawing. The UAH chapter of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity has also been a visible supporter of the effort. Members of the fraternity are often seen courtside painted up in blue and white. “The infusion of student energy has definitely made a difference in the atmosphere in Spragins Hall this season,” said Antoine Bell, Associate Director of Athletics. “The team feeds off that energy and it makes it a lot of fun for all. I commend the efforts of all involved and encourage everybody to keep coming back for more.” Social media, particularly Facebook, have been vital to spreading the word about basketball events. Coach Ivey also took to the web to support the team. He created uahhoops.com which features “Get to know the Chargers” pieces, “webisode” videos that feature game highlights, and links to articles about the team. “No other schools are doing anything like that,” said Ivey about the in depth access fans are given via the web. The participation of the basketball players and coaches has been central to attracting and retaining fans. The players themselves went out to sign up students for a road trip to Florence for the February 13th game against UNA. Some of the players followed in the footsteps of Coach Acuff and used Facebook to personally thank students for attending. Ivey, who has played and coached basketball at UAH for eight years, was shocked by the response from the student body to the campaign. He believes that this season is only the beginning of something great for the team; “this was all put together fast and it was successful,” said Ivey. “With months or a year of planning the possibilities are unlimited.”
Last Updated ( Monday, 08 February 2010 )

Campbell tows struggling Chargers to win

Written by Antoine Bell
Saturday, 06 February 2010
Photo by Chuck Edgeworth When the Chargers were having a dreadful time shooting the ball on Saturday night, they climbed aboard the broad shoulders of freshman center Zane Campbell. The big man responded with 24 points to lead the Chargers to a 73-63 win over West Florida. With the win, the Chargers tightened their grip on second place in the Gulf South Conference East Division at 5-1 and improved to 16-5 overall. West Florida slipped to 8-12 and 1-6 in the GSC with the loss. Campbell battered the Argonaut interior, knocking down 10-of-14 shots. He also hit a 3-pointer and made 3-of-4 freethrows. Srdan Boskovic added 11 points for UAH, while Jaime Smith tallied 10. Max Hoggard led UWF with 20 points. Jose Davila dropped in 12 points and Ervin Herron contributed 11. The first half was one that both teams would just as soon forget. It was beyond ugly as UAH hit only 7-of-26 shots (26.9%) and West Florida was 7-of-32 (21.9%). In fact, with 4:22 left in the half, the Chargers led 22-20. Then UAH started to show signs of life, finishing the half with a 9-0 run to take a 31-20 lead at halftime. The Chargers pushed their lead up to 16 in the second half when Campbell hit a jumper with 13:15 left to give UAH a 48-32 lead. The Argonauts threatened late, cutting the lead down to seven on two occasions. The last came with 29 seconds left when Maurice Thomas was fouled in the act of shooting a 3-pointer and made all of his freethrows. It trimmed the UAH lead down to 67-60. However, Josh Magette and Smith hit six straight freethrows to put the game away. For the game, the Chargers ended up shooting 37% (20-of-54) from the field. However, they made of for it by knocking down 30-of-38 freethrows. UAH also outrebounded UWF 44-36 and outscored the Argonauts 30-8 in the paint. The Chargers go for three in a row when they travel to Jackson, Tennessee for a rematch against non-conference opponent Lambuth University on Wednesday.
Last Updated ( Saturday, 06 February 2010 )

Chargers fight off determined determined Tigers

Written by Antoine Bell
Saturday, 30 January 2010
Photo by Chuck Edgeworth What looked like a UAH blowout early, turned into a nail-biter in the final moments. But, a late burst was enough to get the Chargers a hard-earned 66-56 win over West Alabama on Saturday night. The Chargers, ranked 10th in the South Region, improved to 15-5 and 4-1 in the Gulf South Conference, while UWA fell to 10-11 and 1-4. Zane Campbell led UAH with 14 points. He was 5-for-8 from the field and 4-for-4 from the line. Josh Yost was 4-for-5 with a 3-pointer and 1-for-1 from the line. He added 10 points and five rebounds. UWA guard Alquan Mendenhall led all scorers with 21 points, all from downtown. He was 7-for-12 from behind the arc. Richard Sirju added 13 points for the Tigers. The Chargers appeared to be on cruise control when midway through the first half they went on a 14-0 run with the score tied at 16 to take a 30-16 lead with 5:06 left. UWA trimmed the lead down to 10 by the half at 34-24. In the second half, the Chargers went cold, hitting only 1-of-11 shots from 3-point range and shooting 39% overall. Meanwhile, UWA inched their way back into the game and with 3:13 left, Ryan Fitch tied the score at 56-all with a jumper. But, the Tigers wouldn't score again and the Chargers finished the game with a 10-0 run. The Chargers begin the second half of the GSC slate next Saturday at home against West Florida.
Last Updated ( Saturday, 30 January 2010 )

Chargers squeeze into initial South Region poll

Written by Special to UAHChargers.com
Thursday, 28 January 2010
The Chargers officially jumped into the race for the postseason, debuting in the first DII Men's Basketball South Region poll of the season. UAH entered the poll at No. 10. The top eight teams in the rankings at the end of the regular season will advance to the DII postseason tournament. The GSC accounted for half of the teams in the South Region rankings. Arkansas Tech claimed the top spot, while Valdosta State followed at No. 3. Delta State earned the No. 5 spot and No. 9 Christian Brothers complete the ten-team list. The complete poll is listed below. NCAA South Region Rankings 1. Arkansas Tech 2. Clark Atlanta 3. Valdosta State 4. Rollins 5. Delta State 6. Florida Southern 7. Tuskegee 8. Barry 9. Christian Brothers 10. Alabama-Huntsville
Last Updated ( Thursday, 28 January 2010 )

Red-hot shooting not enough to cool 8th-ranked Blazers

Written by Antoine Bell
Sunday, 24 January 2010
Valdosta, Ga. - The Chargers shot the lights out against No. 8 Valdosta State on Saturday night, but the Blazers survived the UAH onslaught and claimed their 10th consecutive win 85-76. The loss snapped a seven game winning streak for the Chargers, who fell to 14-5 and 3-1 in the conference. VSU improved to 18-2 and 4-0 with the win. The Chargers were amazing offensively on the night, shooting 63% from the field. In the first half, the Chargers were 18-of-23 for nearly 79%. UAH missed their first shot, but hit the next 10 fieldgoals, including four 3-pointers, building a 13-point lead. But, VSU made a late run to close the score to 44-38 at the half. The Blazers quickly closed the gap in the second half and when Ricardo Lewis scored a layup with 16:05 left, it gave VSU a 47-46 lead. Later, with the score tied at 49-all, Kevin Harris nailed a 3-pointer to give the Blazers a 52-49 lead and they wouldn't trail again. The Chargers stayed in the hunt down the stretch, but the Blazers fought off each attack. Tyler Hanback dropped in a jumper with 4:11 left to trim the Blazers lead to 71-67. However, Tyrone Curnell answered with a 3-pointer, followed by a dunk to smother the last rally for the Chargers. Hanback did hit another 3-pointer with 2:11 left to cut the lead to six, but that was quickly answered by a 3-pointer from Christian Hunter and a jumper by Lewis which gave VSU their largest lead of the game at 83-72 with less than a minute left. Hanback had 16 points to lead UAH. He was 7-for-8 from the field, including two 3-pointers. Josh Magette and Elliott Jones each scored 13 points, while Cody Jones tallied 10. Harris paced VSU with 20 points, while Lewis scored 17 and Curnell 16. The Chargers look to rebound when they return to Spragins Hall to host West Alabama on Saturday, Jan. 30.
Last Updated ( Sunday, 24 January 2010 )