JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (December 23, 2024) – Jacari Lane and Taye Fields have accomplished a lot together.
Lane and Fields go back to their days as teammates at Lee High School in Huntsville, where both were all-state performers and AHSAA 5A State Champions. Now in college, both are teammates at North Alabama and have led the Lions to the best overall record in the Atlantic Sun Conference.
Today, Lane and Fields accomplished another rare feat, as the high school and college teammates were both voted for the two ASUN weekly awards. Lane earned ASUN Player of the Week for a second straight week, while Fields was tabbed ASUN Newcomer of the Week.
The men's and women's basketball weekly awards are voted on by the sports information directors at each ASUN member institution.
Lane averaged 19.0 PPG over two games, including 18 in an 86-69 home win over Charleston Southern and 20 in a road loss to Loyola Marymount. The 20 point performance marked his fourth time scoring over 20 points in a game this season and the 14th time in his career.
In the Charleston Southern win, Lane added six assists, four steals, four rebounds and just two turnovers. At LMU, the Huntsville native had four assists and just one turnover. He shot 8-16 from the floor against the Bucs, while going 8-10 from the line in Los Angeles on Sunday.
Lane has won five ASUN Player of the Week awards, including three this season. He leads all active players in the conference in weekly awards and is one of just 21 players in ASUN history to win at least five times.
Fields had a strong case for player of the week in his own right, averaging 16.5 PPG and 6.0 RPG in the two games. The Charleston Southern game was one to remember, as the senior transfer from Division II Missouri Western State played in his 100th collegiate game and scored his 1,000th career point in the same night.
In the win, Fields torched Charleston Southern with 25 points on 10-12 shooting from the floor. He made his only three pointer and went 4-5 at the line, while adding four rebounds, three assists, three steals, two blocks and just two turnovers.
Fields followed up the memorable night with a near double-double at LMU, scoring eight points with eight rebounds.
This marks the first weekly award for Fields since joining the Lions this season. This preseason, Fields was the Fan Voted ASUN Defensive Player of the Year on social media.
The Lions head into the holiday break with an 8-5 record — tying the best Division I non-conference season since the transition in 2018. Conference play begins next Thursday, Jan. 2 against Bellarmine at 6 p.m. inside CB&S Bank Arena.
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