UAH showed no signs of fatigue in its second NCAA tournament game in two days.

Four Chargers scored at least 16 points and UAH shot 50.7% from the field as a team in a 97-86 victory over Florida Southern to advance to the NCAA Division II South Region tournament championship game for a chance to advance to the national quarterfinals.

Even with an offensive day like Sunday, UAH coach Mick Hedgepeth was the most impressed with the other side of the ball against a talented Florida Southern squad.

“I’m really proud, we’ve been working a lot on the defensive side of the ball,” the coach said. “I thought that, particularly, our first half and holding a team like that to 32 — which isn’t that low normally — but for a team like them with that much firepower and how fast they play, we really wanted to get back and make them play against our set defense.

“I thought our guys executed that side of the ball really well and I thought it was beneficial for us. I’m really proud of our group. We knew they would make runs and we were tough and withstood those and stayed poised against a lot of pressure and trapping and physicality.”

UAH held its opponent to 32 points in the first half, with Florida Southern shooting just 32.4% from the field in the first half.

The Chargers scored 46 points in the first half, with Blake Campbell leading the Chargers with 14 points as one of three in double figures after a half of play.

Hedgepeth credited 6-foot-9 forward Peyton Gerald and 6-foot-8 forward Alex Steen as a huge part of UAH’s gameplan heading into the matchup; Steen was named the Sunshine State Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year and Gerald was selected for the all-defensive team.

“That’s a very talented team,” UAH coach Mick Hedgepeth said. “Florida Southern has a lot of weapons, they’re so good in transition. I think they’re sixth in the country in fast break points per game, they’re No. 1 in the country in blocks per game just with their size, particularly Gerald and Steen down there. At least both of those guys had one or two blocks tonight and altered a ton of shots for us.”

Blake Campbell was one of four Chargers to finish in double figures with 28 points, shooting 10-for-18 from the field in the victory; he also grabbed 3 rebounds.

Luke Burnett and Tommy Murr both piled up 21 points apiece for the Chargers as Murr had a near-double-double with 9 rebounds to lead UAH and Burnett dished out 4 assists of his own. Both players hit 7 field goals each.

Daniel Saylor had 16 points to make the fourth Charger in double figures, shooting 8-for-14 from the field and grabbing 6 rebounds. Dane Harding filled up the stat sheet with 8 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.

Along with Campbell’s strong scoring night, he drew the assignment of going up against Jadin Booth, who averaged a commanding 21 points per game this year for Florida Southern; Booth scored 15 points, marking one of nine times he scored below 16.

“He’s a really great player, a really great scorer,” Campbell said of Booth. “Our whole game plan was ‘let’s stop Jadin Booth and let’s make somebody else.’”

UAH will face Nova Southeastern or Lynn in the South Region tournament championship on Tuesday, with the winner of that game advancing to the national quarterfinals in Evansville, Indiana.

“We’ll find out who we play first, a lot of logistics to figure out with practice times and meals and how to navigate all that,” Hedgepeth said. “But, we’ll watch this game, figure out who we play and our staff will dive into the film immediately and try to formulate a plan.”