Huntsville, Ala. -- The Hawks' comeback fell short Thursday night, as they dropped a 100-97 decision to Alabama Huntsville on the road.

With the loss Shorter evens its record at 5-5 on the year but slips to 1-4 in the Gulf South Conference; while the Chargers improve to 7-3 overall and 4-1 in conference play.

Trailing by 14 at the break, the Hawks kicked into gear in the second half to erase the deficit and tie the game late. Down the stretch Shorter kept things close and just missed forcing extra time, when Trevor McDade saw his three-pointer to tie the game miss as the buzzer sounded.

Five Hawks finished in double-figures with Phil Taylor leading the charge with 23 points in the game. McDade added 22 for the night and Chris Daniels finished with a double-double of 18 points and 12 rebounds. Alijah Bennett posted 15 points in the game, and Amonte Potter added 14.

The Chargers pulled away early, starting the game on a 7-2 run, only to have the Hawks tally a 7-2 run of their own to tie the game at 9 with fifteen minutes to play in the first half on a three-pointer from Bennett. Through the next few minutes the teams traded the lead, but the Chargers posted another push for the lead after McDade tied things up at 16 on a layup, tallying ten unanswered points to make it a 26-16 game at the midway point of the first half. The Hawks cut the advantage to as little as five in the remaining minutes, but that was as close as they would get as Alabama Huntsville took a 52-38 lead into the break.

In the second half Shorter outscored the Chargers 59-48, and made things interesting late. The Hawks opened the period with a 9-2 run to cut the lead to 54-47 at the fist media break, and through the next few minutes worked to keep the momentum. As they approached the halfway point, Shorter made a 7-3 run to tie the game as Taylor completed the three point play after being fouled on a jumper with 9:45 to go. The Chargers didn't let up in the final ten minutes, regaining the advantage and leading by as many as 8 with 5:59 to go, but the Hawks again erased the deficit, pulling to within two with 36 seconds to play. Only to have the Chargers convert three of four free throws to maintain the lead.

The Hawks shot 55 percent in the game; while going 9-30 from beyond the arc. While Alabama Huntsville shot just under 60 percent in the game and 55 percent from three-point range.

Shorter will look to get back in the win column Saturday as they travel to North Alabama for a 4:00pm eastern start in Florence, Ala.