JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (February 8, 2024) – The University of North Alabama men's basketball team continued its winning ways on Thursday in Jacksonville, as fourth-year guard
Will Soucie scored a season-high 20 points en route to a 79-74 win over North Florida at UNF Arena.
The Lions remain the hottest team in the Atlantic Sun Conference, winning their fifth-straight game to improve to 12-12 overall and 6-4 in league play. Meanwhile, North Florida falls at home for the first time since December 2 and drops to 13-12 overall and into a tie with UNA at 6-4 in the ASUN.
While the last four wins have involved a high number of lead changes, tonight's win over North Florida had none. Despite the lack of lead changes, the Ospreys made life difficult in the second half by overcoming a double digit deficit and tying the game with 46 seconds to go.
Enter
KJ Johnson.
On a night where a number of Lions stepped up in various moments, the fifth-year senior from Lewisburg, Tenn. had the go-ahead and-one layup with 33 seconds remaining and iced the game with two free throws.
Johnson was one of four Lions in double figures, as Soucie led the charge with his second-career 20 point scoring game. His career-high remains 23 points against Central Arkansas in 2022. Joining the pair in double figures was senior
Damian Forrest with 12 points and graduate
Tim Smith Jr. with 11 points. The two forwards combined for 16 rebounds.
Tonight snaps a 13-game streak of double-digit scoring games for leading scorer
Jacari Lane, but the sophomore still had an impact with eight points over 14 minutes. Off the bench, junior
Dallas Howell finished with nine points and a pair of blocks.
Detalian Brown also got extended playing time, hitting a first half triple and grabbing the final rebound of the second half to help run out the time.
North Florida was led by Chaz Lanier with 35 points, as Lanier remains one of the top two scorers in the ASUN. Only one other player, Nate Lliteras, had double figures for UNF with 10 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half: The Lions enjoyed one of their most dominant halves this season, taking a double-digit halftime lead for just the fourth time this season and the first time since conference play began in January. This lead came courtesy of eight different scorers for UNA, led by Soucie with 12 points and Forrest with eight points and six rebounds. As a team, UNA shot 17-34 from the floor and limited UNF to just 25.9 percent on 7-27 shooting. UNA started with a 6-4 lead and never trailed the rest of the half, taking its first double digit lead with 5:20 to go in the half at 30-19 and leading 39-26 at the break.
Second Half: UNA maintained its double-digit lead for nearly 10 more minutes until North Florida pulled within nine at 54-45 at the 10:55 mark. The Ospreys got within two possessions shortly after that, forcing a UNA timeout with 9:27 remaining at 56-50 thanks to a three-pointer by Lanier. After UNF pulled within four points, the Lions went on a 7-0 run to make it 65-56 with under 6:00 to go. The final two minutes got testy again, as North Florida pulled back within one and Lane made a layup to extend back to three on two separate occasions. A successful and-one by Lanier made it tied at 74-74 in the final 45 seconds, but Johnson answered with his own and-one at the other end and iced the game with two free throws.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- All five starters for UNA scored within the first five minutes.
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The Lions had a 26-6 advantage in paint scoring in the first half and finished with a dominant 44-24 advantage.
- The Lions also dominated the boards with a 39-29 advantage. Nine different players grabbed a board, including six players with more than one. Smith Jr. led with a game-high nine rebounds.
- UNA shot 50 percent in both halves to finish 28-56 from the field.
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The Ospreys were limited to just 37.5 percent for the game, making 21-56. Despite a slow start at 7-27 from the field in the first half, UNF finished 14-29 for nearly 50 percent in the second half.
- UNA went just 5-15 from behind the arc, doing most of its damage on field goals and free throws. UNF went 9-28 from downtown with nearly double the attempts, including 6-14 in the second half.
- The Lions went 18-24 at the line for an even 75 percent, while UNF went 23-31 for 74.2 percent. Both teams hovered around their season averages and are two of the top five free throw shooting teams in the ASUN this season.
- The score was tied three times — twice in the opening moments at 2-2 and 4-4 and not again until the final 46 seconds at 74-74.
- UNA experienced 40 lead changes in the last four games, but none in tonight's game.
- UNA had a 9-5 advantage in assists, led by Johnson with four.
COMING UP NEXT
The Lions will end their Florida trip at Jacksonville University on Saturday at 2 p.m.
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
