JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (January 18, 2025) – The North Alabama men's basketball team ended a two-week trip to the state of Florida with a key road win on Saturday, taking down North Florida by a 90-84 final inside UNF Arena in Jacksonville.
UNA — now 12-7 overall and 4-2 in Atlantic Sun Conference play — has won seven of its last 10 games. The Lions split their four-game road trip to Florida with wins over Stetson and UNF and losses to FGCU and Jacksonville.
The Lions trailed by 10 early on, but caught fire to end the half up 47-39. In the second half, UNA led by as many as 17 points, but North Florida (9-10, 2-4 ASUN) dwindled the deficit back to 84-82 in the final minute. Senior
Taye Fields played hero with a basket to extend the lead with 17 seconds to go. The Lions iced the game from there with free throws.
Facing a high volume three-point shooting team, the Lions needed to keep up with rapid scoring. UNA rose to the occasion and infiltrated the defense with a 58-26 advantage in the paint. Four Lions finished in double figures, and seven scored at least seven points.
For the first time this season, junior
Donte Bacchus was the leading scorer for UNA with a season-high 21 points. He did not miss any of his shot attempts, going 9-9 from the floor. More impressively, Bacchus played 21 minutes, meaning he averaged one point per minute.
Fields had another all-around performance, stuffing the stat sheet with 16 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists. Junior guard
Jacari Lane also flirted with a double-double with 18 points, eight assists and six rebounds. Lane's scoring moved him among the top 15 career scorers in UNA history.
Redshirt sophomore
Corneilous Williams was the key factor in UNA's success down low on both ends. The forward scored 18 points with six rebounds, shooting 7-9 from the floor. A healthy chunk of his scoring came on open dunks set up by Lane and Fields.
UNA shot just 13 times behind the arc, including a pair of three-pointers from senior
Daniel Ortiz. He finished with eight points, including a steal-and-score in the second half. Sophomore
Canin Jefferson added seven off the bench, including one triple.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half: North Florida is historically strong out of the gate, jumping to a 16-9 lead at the first media timeout.
Corneilous Williams scored UNA's first seven points and assisted on the next two, keeping UNA in reach of the high-scoring Ospreys. The Lions flipped the lead for the first time at the 6:45 mark, as
Canin Jefferson floated in a go-ahead layup to make it 31-30. Despite trailing by 10 at one point, the Lions eventually took a 13 point lead and finished the half ahead 47-39. The Lions outscored UNF 34-10 in the paint at the half, while UNF went 7-23 behind the arc.
Second Half: UNA maintained the momentum in the second half, starting with a 7-2 run to go ahead 54-41 in the first two minutes of the frame. After sinking just one three-pointer in the first half, the Lions had three by the first media timeout of the second half with one from Lane and two from Ortiz. The Lions led by as many as 17 in the second half, but UNF surged back with a high volume of three-pointers. Ahead 84-82, Fields made a clutch layup to extend the lead. UNF air-mailed a three-pointer on the next possession, allowing Fields to ice the game.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Jacari Lane moves past UNA Hall of Famer Tommy Ledbetter (1969-71) and Don Shotts (1953-56) on the all-time scoring list at North Alabama with 1,192 career points. Lane is now 14th behind Greg Tyon (1981-84) and UNA Hall of Famer Don Faint (1968-71) who are both just above 1,200 career points.
- UNA shot 35-63 from the floor, tying a season-high in made field goals last set against Tennessee Tech on Dec. 4.
- Today's win marks the closest win margin for UNA this season at six points. North Florida is also the first UNA opponent to score over 70 points and lose.
- This is UNA's fifth time scoring 90 or more points in a game this season. The Lions are 4-1 in those games with the lone loss coming in overtime to defending SoCon champion Samford.
- UNA had 20 assists — the most since having 23 against Dalton State. UNF finished with 13.
- Both teams entered among the top three ASUN teams in assist-turnover ratio and lived up to the hype with just six turnovers apiece. UNA tripled the amount of assists, while UNF doubled.
- UNA slightly won the boards 36-33. UNA had 27 defensive boards.
- UNA has won four of the last five against North Florida, including three straight wins in Jacksonville and back-to-back wins inside UNF Arena.
COMING UP NEXT
The Lions will host Lipscomb for a highly-anticipated ASUN matchup Thursday, Jan. 23 at 6 p.m.
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
