NATCHITOCHES, La. (November 23, 2024) – Four North Alabama players scored in double figures in UNA's only neutral site game of the regular season, as the Lions earned a 74-62 win over Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday at Prather Arena in Natchitoches, La.
Playing the first of two games at the City of Lights MTE, hosted by Northwestern State, UNA took a 37-32 lead at halftime and never trailed the rest of the way. A big reason for that was senior
Daniel Ortiz, who was playing an hour away from his hometown of Shreveport and went 5-11 behind the arc for a game-high 19 points.
Senior
Taye Fields and redshirt sophomore
Corneilous Williams were both on double-double watch at one point, as Fields finished with 15 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Williams had 16 points and six boards.
Junior guard
Jacari Lane was another key story from Saturday's game, as a three-pointer late in the first half gave him 1,000 career points. Lane becomes the 28th player in UNA history to accomplish this feat and the second of the Division I era behind Jamari Blackmon in 2022. The 2024 first team all-conference guard finished with 10 points and four assists against ULM.
ULM was led by Jalen Bolden with 16 points and eight rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half: The first 20 minutes had seven ties and five lead changes, the last of which came with 1:38 remaining to make it 32-32. From there, true freshman
Kevin de Kovachich and Ortiz scored on back-to-back possessions to put UNA back ahead by five at the break. ULM shot 54.5 percent from the field, but the Lions fired off 10 more shots in the half thanks to an 8-3 advantage in turnovers. Both teams led for at least five minutes of the half, with UNA leading for 9:02 and ULM for 5:10. Neither team led for more than one possession until Ortiz hit a three in the final minute. Ortiz had 12 points to lead UNA at the break.
Second Half: The Warhawks made good on back-to-back possessions to pull within one, but the
Taye Fields takeover began after that with back-to-back jumpers to make it 41-36. A few minutes later, Fields stripped a three-pointer to make it 46-38. The next five minutes were all scores from Fields and Williams, as the Lions led 56-47 at the 11 minute mark. Ortiz hit a triple to give UNA its first double-digit lead of the game with 10:18 left. ULM got back within three points with 5:24 remaining, but Ortiz, Williams and Lane all combined for an 11-0 run to put the game away. UNA only turned the ball over two times in the second half while scoring seven points off ULM's turnovers.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- At least three UNA players have been in double figures every game this season.
- UNA ranks among the top 25 NCAA teams in turnover margin, and tonight was the epitome of that success. The Lions forced 14 turnovers and committed five — a season-low. In all four wins, UNA has had 11 turnovers or less, while opponents have had 14 or more.
- UNA had a 17-7 advantage in points off turnovers and a 15-6 advantage in second chance points.
- The Lions won the paint with a 40-32 point advantage.
- UNA shot above 40 percent for a ninth straight game, dating back to last season. UNA went 29-65 from the floor for 44.6 percent.
- UNA fired up 26 three-pointers on Saturday, the most since shooting 28 in the win over UT Martin. The most remains the 15-29 effort at Air Force in the season opener.
- ULM shot 25-52 for 48.1 percent, but went just 3-11 behind the arc for 27.3 percent. The three triples are a season-low for a UNA opponent. The previous was seven by Point in the home opener.
- UNA went 9-11 at the line and is shooting 19-22 from the line over the last two games. Fields led the team tonight with a 6-6 effort.
- Tonight, Lane became the 28th player in UNA history to join the 1,000 point club. Meanwhile, Ortiz is at 985 career points at UNA after tonight and needs 15 to score his 1,000th at UNA. Ortiz has 1,217 for his college career when including his 232 points from his one year at UAB.
COMING UP NEXT
UNA will finish up the City of Lights MTE tomorrow at 2 p.m. against host school Northwestern State.
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
