LIVINGSTON, Ala. - After a week off, the University of West Alabama Men's Basketball team returns to action on Saturday for a 4:00 p.m. road matchup against the fifth ranked team in the country in the Alabama Huntsville Chargers.

West Alabama (9-7, 5-5 GSC) enters Saturday's contest against the Chargers after suffering back-to-back losses for the first time this season with defeats coming to AUM and Montevallo. For Alabama Huntsville (15-1, 10-0 GSC), they enter the weekend atop the GSC Standings after remaining perfect in the conference with an 18-point victory over AUM their last time out.

For the last handful of years, the best two GSC basketball teams in the state of Alabama have been UWA and UAH, creating a subliminal rivalry between the two. In the past 10 matchups between the two GSC juggernauts, the record stands at 5-5. Heading into Saturday's battle, the Tigers have won three out of the last four games in the series and swept the season series last year, winning by a scoring average of 10.5 points. In their season sweep in 2023-24, Jaylen Lemons and Thaddeus Williams put together clinical offensive performances. Lemons averaged 24.5 points on 59 percent shooting and 59 percent from three, including a game-high 30 point performance on 58 percent shooting and eight made threes to lead UWA to a 69-65 win in Livingston. For Williams, he averaged 15.5 points and 8.0 rebounds, including a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double in the same game that featured Lemon's 30-point barrage.

Lemons and Williams remain two of West Alabama's top scoring guards in 2025. Lemons' production hasn't been quite the same this season but he still possesses one of the purest jumpshots in the GSC. The UWA Two-Guard has buried 36 threes this season on a 35 percent clip, putting him fifth in the conference in three-pointers made. As for Williams, he continues to be the number one option on the offensive end for the Tigers. The senior remains the team leader in scoring and assists as he brings a stat line of 15.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 3.0 assists into Saturday's matchup. 

Alongside Lemons and Williams, Rasean Frederick continues to be a force in West Alabama's frontcourt. It took Frederick a couple of games to get acclimated to head coach Nick Woodruff's system, but now 16 games in, the 6'5" Forward is shining. In his last six games, Frederick is averaging 16.7 points and 7.2 rebounds per game on 64 percent shooting, bolstering his season averages up to 11.9 points and a team-high 5.5 rebounds per game. 
 
While UWA swept the season series last year, Alabama Huntsville is playing at a different level in the 2024-25 season. The Chargers lost their season opener in double overtime to Division II powerhouse, Nova Southeastern, but since then, UAH has rattled off 15 straight wins. Alabama Huntsville is notorious for their three-guard lineups and it's as good as it's ever been in the history of UAH Basketball this year. The Chargers' three-guard lineup consists of Tommy Murr, Luke Burnett, and Blake Campbell. The trio is averaging a combined 53.6 points per game with Murr leading the team and ranking fourth in the GSC with 19.5 points and 6.0 assists per game. The Combo Guard was primarily a slasher last season but is shooting and making the three ball at a higher rate this year, putting him in the 50-40-90 club with 51 | 41 | 93 percent shooting splits through the first 16 games. 

If you asked the coaches around the league who the best shooter in the GSC is, they would more than likely tell you that it's Luke Burnett. Burnett has led the league in three-pointers made in the past two seasons and is on track to lead the conference again this season as he's made a league-high 67 threes which is 22 more than Trevecca Nazarene's Jalen Page who is in second. 

Campbell is a graduate transfer from Berry who has come in and immediately made an impact for UAH. The graduate student comes into the weekend averaging 16.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 4.1 assists on a blistering 62 percent shooting. The 6'4" Guard has shot 50 percent or higher from the field in 15 of Alabama Huntsville's 16 games this year.

The battle between GSC Heavyweights is set for Saturday at 4:00 p.m. in Spragins Hall.