By JOSH SNEAD / For the Reporter

MONTEVALLO – The University of Montevallo Falcons beat the University of Alabama-Huntsville, 62-49, at home Monday to extend their win streak to nine against the Chargers. The win was Montevallo’s first Gulf South Conference victory of the season after dropping the GSC opener to the University of West Georgia Saturday.

UM struggled in pre-conference play, entering the weekend with a 6-7 record.

After losing all of their starters from a season ago, several players are seeing playing time as head coach Danny Young looks for a line up that works.

“The idea is to limit everyone’s minutes and just get them to play as hard as they can,” Young said.

Ten players saw playing time Monday with nine of them playing double-digit minutes. Anthony Brown logged the most court time with 33 minutes, which he used to score 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting.

“They’re all improving,” Young said.

“It’s just a matter of getting these young guys the playing time they need.”

The Chargers struggled to find their way in the first half, going only 3-of-19 from behind the 3-point arc in their Princeton-style offense.

The picks and back door cuts had the Montevallo defense chasing their tails but the shots just weren’t falling.

Brown led all scorers with eight points going into a low scoring half at 25-21.

Chargers’ head coach, Lennie Acuff changed his approach in the second half by dumping the ball inside to his big man, Cody Jones.

Jones scored six of the Chargers’ first eight points of the second half and set up Jordan Brewer for a runner inside the lane that gave UAH the lead five minutes in.

UM moved quickly to tie it as Brian Carlyle stirred up the crowd with a slam off the fast break. Moments later, Terrill Humphrey was fouled as he nailed a 3-pointer from the corner just in front of the Montevallo bench. He did not convert the four-point play but the basket put the Falcons up 34-31 with the 10 minute mark approaching.

As the Charger’s rarely-used interior players began to tire with the new gameplan in effect, the Falcons were able to maintain a six-point lead for several minutes. Shon Caston came up with two crucial steals that lead to fast break points.

UAH made a run of their own as freshman guard, Tyler Hanback, hit a couple of 3-pointers to bring his team within one with 9:40 remaining in the game.

Jonathon Hewitt buried a shot from deep and Brown followed with a mid-range jumper to give the Falcons a little breathing room and a 46-41 lead.

The Chargers seemed to lose hope after they suffered a series of turnovers and were forced to foul the fast break.

A layup from from Hewitt and a free throw from Humphrey with two minutes remaining sealed the deal for the Falcons. Humphrey finished with a game-high 18 points including 3-of-6 beyond the arc.

“This is a great win for us,” Young said.

“This feels good after losing the conference home opener.”

The Falcons travel to Florence on Saturday to take on the University of North Alabama.

Tip-off is at 3 p.m