FLORENCE, Ala. (February 17, 2024) – With an automatic berth to the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament on the line, the University of North Alabama hosted Austin Peay in men's basketball action on Saturday in Florence. The Govs held off a late surge in the final four minutes for an 87-79 road win.
UNA trailed by as many as 15 points in the second half, but used a 12-0 run over three minutes to make it 66-63 with 8:39 to go. Keeping it tight, UNA got it back within one at the six minute mark and down to 74-72 with 3:58 to go. The Govs took over from there and pulled away on free throws.
Tonight's loss halted a four-game home winning streak for UNA while extending a five-game win streak for Austin Peay — the longest active streak in the ASUN.
Despite the loss, UNA had another strong shooting performance from the field, going 28-57 from the field and 9-20 behind the arc. However, Austin Peay made one more three pointer (10-18) and had 10 more opportunities at the line to pull ahead at the charity stripe.
This game breaks a tie between the two in the ASUN standings with three-games remaining, as Austin Peay improves to 8-5 and UNA drops to 7-6. The Govs are in a three-way tie with Lipscomb and North Florida, who have also clinched a tournament spot along with top seeds EKU and Stetson.
With the loss, the Lions are now 7-6 and sit comfortably in sixth place ahead of 5-7 FGCU. One win over the next three games will clinch a tournament bid for UNA, while more than one win will aid UNA's chances of getting one of the top four seeds and hosting an ASUN tournament game.
Prior to the game, UNA honored four seniors in
KJ Johnson,
Damian Forrest,
Tim Smith Jr. and
Eoin Nelson. These four players combined for 49 points and 11 rebounds tonight.
The Lions were led by four players in double figures, including sophomore
Jacari Lane with 18 points. Lane also totaled three assists to break his own Division I era single season school record. He now has 109 assists this season after finishing with 108 last season in his ASUN Freshman of the Year campaign.
Johnson and Forrest had 15 apiece, while Smith Jr. went 4-7 behind the arc and 5-10 from the field to add 16 points. Johnson and Forrest also had efficient days, as Johnson shot 5-6 and Forrest went 6-10. Forrest and four-year junior
Will Soucie had five rebounds each.
Austin Peay, playing without leading scorer Demarcus Sharp, leaned on its starters and had a career-high 32 points from Isaac Haney in the win. Sai Witt added 13 points and 10 boards for a double-double.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- UNA shot 49.1 percent from the field, going 28-57.
-
Austin Peay shot 51.9 percent, making 27 of 52 from the floor.
- The Lions had a 36-30 advantage in paint scoring.
-
APSU went 10-18 behind the arc for 55.6 percent, while UNA went 9-20 for 45 percent.
- The Lions got all of their three pointers from Smith, Lane and Johnson, including a perfect 3-3 shooting day by Johnson. Johnson also went 5-6 from the field and 2-2 at the line over 37 minutes.
- UNA went 14-16 at the line for a respectable total, but Austin Peay found its way to the line more often and shot 23-26 for 88 percent.
- The Lions totaled five blocks compared to just one for Austin Peay. Those five blocks came from five different players — Lane, Smith Forrest, Detalian Brown and Dallas Howell.
- The game had just two lead changes and three ties.
- Lane now has 22 games with double-digit scoring, including six above 20 points. He's only had five games where he didn't score double figures.
- UNA has won six of its last eight games heading into the final three-game stretch.
COMING UP NEXT
The Lions begin the final push toward the tournament push next Thursday at EKU. The journey continues next Saturday at Bellarmine and ends the following Friday, March 1 at Central Arkansas.
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
