FLORENCE, Ala. (January 6, 2024) – The Lions simply never gave up.
Despite trailing by 23 points with 15 minutes remaining, the University of North Alabama men's basketball team chipped away and eventually had a chance to force overtime at the buzzer. The final shot was in the hands of one of UNA's top three-point shooters —
Dallas Howell — but the corner three was a hair off the mark and the visiting Central Arkansas Bears escaped with an 84-81 win on Saturday inside CB&S Bank Arena in Florence.
The Bears opened on an 8-0 run and were on pace for a record shooting night at 66.7 percent in the first half. Though facing a 46-28 deficit, the Lions never threw in the towel. Instead, UNA proceeded to outscore the Bears 53-38 in the final 20 minutes.
UCA's largest lead came with 15:28 remaining at 61-38. From there, a three-pointer by Howell at the 15:04 mark started a remarkable comeback attempt for UNA. The Lions jumped off the mat and went on a 43-23 run over the final 15 minutes, including 13 points from Howell and 14 from senior guard
KJ Johnson over this stretch.
This marked the first Atlantic Sun Conference game for both sides, with Central Arkansas jumping out to 1-0 in league play. The Bears move to 5-12 on the season, while the Lions dip to 6-9 overall.
Three Lions finished in double figures, including 19 points from Johnson and 16 from Howell. Both players made four triples, including an efficient 4-5 shooting day behind the arc for Johnson. Howell was one rebound shy of a double-double. Sophomore guard
Jacari Lane added 17 points and a game-high six assists.
UCA was led by Tucker Anderson with 24 points on 7-13 shooting from the field and 5-7 behind the arc.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half: The Bears started hot with an 8-0 run in the open, but a pair of three-point baskets from
Detalian Brown answered the call and made it 10-8 around the first media timeout. UCA maintained a steady pace and eventually took a double-digit lead beyond the first 10 minutes, 28-17. The Lions once again moved the needle back a little closer to the middle with back-to-back triples from Johnson and true freshman guard
Canin Jefferson. Jefferson also made a pair of free throws to make It 31-25 with 7:37 to go. This would be the last time UNA hung within two possessions in the first half, as UCA took a 46-28 lead into the locker room. UCA was 18-27 from the floor in the half for 66.7 percent, while the Lions were just 10-28 for 35.7 percent.
Second Half: The second half nearly became one for the ages, as the Lions dominated the final stretch and made it a game again. Things did not start so hot though, as every UNA basket was answered by UCA early on. This included a three-pointer by Lane that was negated by a three from Anderson just seconds later to make it 55-35. This gave Anderson 17 points at the moment. Momentum slowly shifted with a wave of triples from Howell, using a personal 11-0 run to make it 63-46. Scores by Lane, Brown, Johnson and a three-pointer from junior guard
Will Soucie made it interesting, cutting the lead to 10 with 3:05 remaining. The final three minutes were a basketball fan's dream, as Johnson sank a triple to ignite the crowd to make it 78-71 with 2:44 remaining. UCA used long possessions to milk as much clock as possible, clinging to a 78-73 lead with under a minute to play after Johnson made two free throws. The Lions got another stop at the other end and Johnson sank a trey on a dish from Lane to make it 79-76 with 18 seconds left.
The final 18 seconds brought the dramatics. It started with an offensive foul by Central Arkansas's Anderson to give UNA the ball back with the shot clock off and a three-point deficit. Unfortunately for UNA, the inbound pass was errant and taken by UCA for an and-one fast break layup. The free throw missed, leaving the score at 81-76. Johnson and Lane came through again with another three-point hook-up, lighting up the crowd to make it 81-79 with 11 seconds to go. Things got interesting again, as UCA's inbound was tipped and originally called UNA's ball, but further review determined the Bears would keep possession. A foul send Johannes Kirsipuu to the line, who made the first but missed the second. Howell got the rebound and was fouled with five seconds left, going to the line and sinking both to make it 82-81 — the closest margin since the start of the game. UCA's Anderson got the inbound and put the pressure back on with two made freebies. Down 84-81 with four seconds left, the Lions threw a long inbound pass to Howell, who caught it near the basket, dribbled back to the corner and threw up a prayer that looked about as good as it gets, but hit off the back of the rim and missed by mere inches.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- In a tail of two halves, UNA finished shooting 40.3 percent for the game with 27-67 for the game and 17-39 in the second half. UCA went 28-57 for the game and just 10-30 in the second half.
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The Lions shot 14-34 behind the arc, marking the second-most threes in a game this season behind the UT Martin game. UNA also totaled its third-highest three-point percentage of the season at 41.2 percent.
- Central Arkansas finished 10-24 behind the arc for 41.7 percent, going 5-12 in both halves.
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Typically a strong free throw shooting team, UNA struggled from the line with a season-low 59.1 percentage at the line, going 13-22. The Lions are 74.2 percent at the line for the season, including four games above 80 percent.
- UCA finished 18-24 at the line for 75 percent.
- UNA was outrebounded 18-11 in the first half, but completely dominated the boards in the second half with a 27-18 margin to finish with a 38-36 advantage.
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The paint scoring totals were in line with rebounding, as UCA outscored the Lions 24-10 in the first half from the paint, but UNA took a 16-10 advantage in the second half.
- The Lions were right on track with their season average for bench scoring, totaling 27 points off the pine. Josiah Fulcher led this group with nine points, followed by Brown with eight, Jefferson with seven and Soucie with three.
- For the first time this season, UNA lost a game in regulation where it scored over 80 points.
COMING UP NEXT
ASUN play continues inside CB&S Bank Arena next week as the Lions welcome Bellarmine on Thursday, Jan. 11 at 7:45 p.m. and EKU on Saturday, Jan. 13 at 7:15 p.m.
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
