LOUISVILLE, Ky. (January 10, 2026) – The University of North Alabama men's basketball team secured a much-needed road win on Saturday, as the Lions snapped a five-game skid with a hard-fought 82-73 victory over Bellarmine in Louisville.
Looking to overcome an 0-3 start in Atlantic Sun Conference play, North Alabama (6-9, 1-3) put together a near-flawless second half.
Down 33-32 at the break, the Lions outscored Bellarmine (6-10, 1-3 ASUN) by a 50-40 score in the second half. This was the highest scoring half for UNA since the home opener against Lane College.
The perimeter proved dangerous on Saturday, but not for the team with the second-best three-point percentage in the ASUN. The Lions, who entered at the bottom of the conference in three-point shooting, finished 11-21 from downtown for 52 percent. Bellarmine went 11-28 for 39 percent.
Sixth-year senior
Dallas Howell was virtually unstoppable from the corner, finishing 8-9 from behind the arc. He posted a career-high 24 points to lead all players. His previous career-high was 19 against ETSU, as he hit five threes in that game.
Howell finished 6-6 on threes in the second half, netting 18 points in the final 20 minutes.
Redshirt junior
Corneilous Williams dealt with fever issues over the last few days or so, but the only thing that appeared to be running hot was his scoring and rebounding abilities on Saturday.
Williams finished with his sixth double-double of the season, scoring 20 points with 15 rebounds. He had 11 points and 10 rebounds in the first half alone. Williams played 38 minutes today — the most since playing 38 in a win at Jacksonville State.
Junior
Canin Jefferson continued to be a rock-solid scorer for UNA on Saturday, dropping 17 points and a career-high six assists. He finished 6-6 at the line. True freshman
Cortez Graham-Howard also landed two career-highs with 10 points and a game-high seven assists.
Jefferson, Graham-Howard and sophomore
Kevin de Kovachich were the other three players to make a three alongside Howell. The one by de Kovachich was the ultimate go-ahead triple in the second half.
As for the team rebounding totals, UNA outrebounded the Knights 32-19. The 19 rebounds are the fewest allowed by UNA since 2015.
This was also a low-turnover game with just 17 combined, including nine from UNA. Six of those came in the first half, while only three happened in the second half.
Bellarmine was led by Brian Waddell with 20 points. The Lions held the ASUN's leading scorer, Jack Karasinski, to 17 points. His average entering the game was 21.0 PPG.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half: The early makings of a shootout were evident in the opening minute, as Bellarmine's Sam Donald and UNA's
Canin Jefferson traded three pointers on the first possesion. Both teams combined to start 6-6 from behind the arc with four from Bellarmine to take a 14-6 lead. The lead extended to double digits after UNA called a timeout, but UNA came alive with a 17-4 run to take its first lead of the game — 25-24 with 4:20 to go. The rest of the half included three more tie scores, as Bellarmine took a slight 33-32 lead into the break. Williams had more rebounds in the first half (10) than Bellarmine's entire team (9).
Second Half: UNA put together a signature second half, making eight of the first 10 shots to mount a 53-46 lead just over seven minutes into the second half. Howell made a trio of three-pointers, Williams continued his paint dominance and true freshman
Cortez Graham-Howard also got involved with three-straight buckets to extend the lead. Sophomore
Kevin de Kovachich had the go-ahead triple with 14:47 remaining — his first points of the game. Howell hit another three-pointer with 10:24 to give UNA its first double-digit lead at 60-48. The sixth-year senior continued to be the driving force, finishing the half with 18 points as the Lions cruised on. Jefferson added 12 second half points and five assists.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- UNA gave up just 19 rebounds, which is the fewest under Coach Tony Pujol. The last time UNA allowed 19 or fewer was against Union (TN) on Jan. 12, 2015 — almost exactly 11 years ago.
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UNA has trailed at the half in four of its six wins this season.
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The Lions had a 3.0 assist/turnover ratio in a stellar second half, totaling nine assists to just three turnovers.
- UNA shot 7-10 from behind the arc in the second half. Howell went 6-6.
- Despite losing, Bellarmine had the highest opponent shooting percentage UNA has allowed all season, shooting 27-52 for a 51.9 shooting percentage.
- This marks the second straight game that two Lions finished with career-high scoring totals. On Thursday at EKU, it was Jefferson with 24 and freshman Braylon Patton with 13.
- UNA and Bellarmine tied for points in the paint with 32 points. UNA has a 6-2 record when either tying or winning the paint.
- This marks UNA's first win when shooting over 40 percent from downtown. The Lions were previously 0-4 in such games — perhaps a surprising trend.
- UNA went 17-22 on free throws for a 77.3 percentage. Bellarmine went just 8-13.
- This is the seventh time this season UNA has finished with less than 10 turnovers. The Lions are among the top 75 teams in Division I with just 10.7 per game.
COMING UP NEXT
UNA continues down the Kentucky Trail over to Louisville to face Bellarmine on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT. Bellarmine comes in after an 84-78 overtime win against Central Arkansas.
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
