BIRMINGAHAM, Ala. – A second half surge by West Alabama was not enough to overcome a first half shooting slump of 9-of-30 from the field, as the Tigers fell to Alabama Huntsville 73-68 in the Gulf South Conference tournament championship game at the Pete Hanna Center on Saturday.

Alabama Huntsville claims the tournament title with a 23-8 overall record, while the runner-up and co-regular season champions, West Alabama, ends the tournament 22-11. Senior Justin Wright and junior Charles Eaton both earned All-Tournament Team honors for UWA.

The Tigers shooting woes in the first half came mainly from 3-point field goals as they failed to hit any of their 10 attempts. Alabama Huntsville, who never trailed in the game, took a 32-23 lead at the half hitting 12-of-27 from the field; 4-of-10 from the 3-point line.

UWA surged back in the second half, cutting the deficit to one point with a 3-pointer from Justin Wright with 1:19 left to play. The Tigers improved to 14-of-26 from the field and 6-of-9 from the 3-point arc to outscore UAH 45-41 in the second half.

"We were just on our heels the whole game," said UWA head coach Allen Sharpe. "We picked it up a little bit in the second half by changing defenses a little, but UAH won this game from the tip. We made a game out of it and made it interesting at the end, but they took it to us today."

Charles Eaton came off the bench with 13 points in the second half to finish with 18 total points. He contributed to the Tigers leading 32-20 in bench points. He also led the Tigers 7-of-9 at the free throw line, while the team combined for 16-of-24.  

Deontaye Ewing followed with 15 points, shooting 2-of-2 three-point field goals in the second half. Just Wright hit all three of his 3-point attempts in the same half to finish with 10 points.

Most Outstanding Player of the tournament, Seab Webster led the Chargers with 19 points shooting 5-of-9 from the 3-point line. Preston Herring followed with 16 points hitting all five of his total field goal attempts.

West Alabama, who currently sits fifth in the NCAA South Region, will await the final region rankings on Sunday night to decide its fate in the NCAA Tournament. Follow NCAA.com for the latest regional rankings.   

"The good thing is that we feel like we still have a little bit of basketball left to play." Sharpe said. "The season is not over and we need to take advantage of that. There are a lot of people that are done at this time of the year."