CULLOWHEE, N.C. (November 26, 2023) – The University of North Alabama men's basketball team ended a Thanksgiving week road swing on Sunday in North Carolina, falling 81-63 at Western Carolina inside the Ramsey Center in Cullowhee.
Facing the No. 14 team in the latest College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 poll, the Lions had a tough time keeping pace with the Catamounts who maintained a shooting percentage over 50 percent the whole way. UNA had a 13-2 run to open the final 10 minutes, but could not overcome the double digit deficit.
A tall challenge, Western Carolina entered Sunday as one of just 24 teams in NCAA Division I Men's Basketball with an undefeated record. WCU improves to 5-0 on the season with road wins over the likes of Notre Dame and Middle Tennessee State.
Meanwhile, the Lions fall to a respectable 3-3 record with all three wins coming at home.
UNA had three scorers in double figures, including senior forward
Damian Forrest with a team-high 13 points on 6-12 shooting and five rebounds.
Jacari Lane added 11 points, while
KJ Johnson had yet another double figure game with 10 points.
WCU was led by Vonterius Woolbright with game-highs of 19 points and 15 rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST HALF: Western Carolina shot over 50 percent in the first half, including 19-34 from the floor and a 6-10 showing behind the arc, while also outrebounding UNA 23-9 to take an early lead. Despite the hot start for the Catamounts, the Lions stayed in striking distance with quality shooting of its own at just over 40 percent from the field (11-27) and a trio of triples. Howell was a spark for North Alabama off the bench with a team-high nine points in the first half on 3-4 shooting from downtown. One of those threes brought UNA back within five at 25-20 with 8:07 left in the half, but WCU inched out to a double-digit lead by halftime.
SECOND HALF: The Catamounts led by as many as 26 midway through the second half — 66-40 — but the Lions did not go down easy. With exactly 10:00 remaining, UNA went on a 13-2 run capped off by a steal off the press and a corner three by Lane to cut it back to 15. Unfortunately for the Lions, this margin would remain the rest of the way. Shooting and rebounding were fairly even in the second half.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Despite the loss, UNA won the turnover battle. The Lions had just nine turnovers while producing 14. According to the official stats, WCU did not record any steals. UNA had three.
- The Lions also had a 13-7 advantage in fast break scoring.
- Though Western Carolina had the rebounding advantage most of the way, UNA outrebounded WCU 8-5 on the offensive glass in the second half.
- Today marked the first all-time meeting between WCU and UNA in basketball.
- At 5-0, WCU is off to its best start since the 1981-92 season. The Catamounts have also won six straight home games dating back to last season.
- The Lions are an even 3-3 on the season with wins at home and losses on the road.
COMING UP NEXT
This coming Thursday, the Lions return home to CB&S Bank Arena in Flowers Hall to host Tennessee Tech. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. in Florence. Two days after that, UNA will play at Kansas State in Manhattan, Kan.
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
