FLORENCE, Ala. (November 5, 2025) – The University of North Alabama men's basketball team went to battle in its home opener against Union University on Thursday inside CB&S Bank Arena, ending the game on an 11-0 run to win 76-66 against its former Gulf South Conference rival.
Fresh off a win on the road at Mountain West opponent UC Davis, the Lions (2-0) once again found itself in a dog fight late in a game.
The game had 17 lead changes with all of those coming from the opening tip until the final six minutes. UNA's defense dominated the final quarter of the game, ending the final 5:40 of game time with a 13-2 run. The final go-ahead basket came on a three-pointer by junior transfer
Ansar Osman to make it 66-64, sparking an 11-0 run mostly fueled by free throws.
This was an exhibition game for Union (0-0), but that did not stop the yearly GSC contender from putting up an early fight. UNA led most of the first half, but the Bulldogs stole a bit of momentum with a shocking four-point turn in the final seven seconds of the half to go up 38-37.
Hindered by nine turnovers in the first half, UNA turned that around with just three in the second half and made the most of their possessions. The Lions finished the second half with a 39-28 scoring advantage led by 12-16 shooting from the line while limiting Union to just 2-5.
Senior
Mike Evbagharu was UNA's leading scorer with 18 points, including 10 in the second half. The transfer from Canisius was perfect from the line at 6-6 and went 6-10 from the field. He also added three rebounds.
In a balanced effort, UNA had nine players score at least once and seven players with at least three rebounds. The one player that did not score in the game may shock some — the leading scorer from last game, graduate guard
Quan Lax — but he greatly impacted the game with a game-high and career-high four steals to go with two assists and three rebounds. His defense proved beneficial in UNA's late surge.
Senior
Caden Harris was the spark plug in most of UNA's lead changes, scoring 15 points on 7-14 shooting from the field. He was also one of three Lions to grab with five rebounds. The other two were graduate forward
Drey Carter and sophomore forward
Jacobe Whitted.
Continuing the balanced effort, senior
Damarien Yates was a force with 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Sophomore
Cortez Graham-Howard added nine, Carter had eight, Osman had six and true freshman
Jarron Talley surpassed Monday's debut scoring total with six tonight.
Union was led by Ehikue Asemota with 14 points and six boards and Jamarcus Powell with 12 points and eight boards.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half: Union came out swinging early, shooting 54 percent from the floor on 13-24 shooting. The Lions were also a respectable 13-30 shooting for 43 percent, but trailed 38-37 at the break. Despite trailing, UNA appeared to be in command midway through the half with a 7-0 run to go up 21-14 at the 9:38 mark. A dunk by Graham-Howard to follow a triple from Carter seem to have UNA off to the races, but Union did not go away. Union went 5-11 from downtown in the half and eventually took a 31-30 lead, but just over a minute later UNA went up 37-34. Union snatched the lead and momentum at the half with a made jumper, a quick UNA turnover on the inbound and a layup at the buzzer to stun the crowd.
Second Half: The tide began to turn late in the second half, but the dog fight continued early in the new frame. Harris scored on UNA's first possession with a go-ahead triple, then Union hit one on the other end 30 seconds later. The score stayed within five most of the way, as UNA never trailed by more than two possessions. In the final six minutes, UNA dominated and allowed nothing but an early layup and a garbage time field goal in the final seconds while scoring 13 points. Yates and Evbagharu sank clutch free throws to help ice the game, as the Lions went 12-16 from the line in the second half and 20-26 for the game.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- UNA is now 22-0 against non-Division I opponents under Coach Tony Pujol.
- UNA has a four-game win streak against Union dating back to 2017. The two were former GSC rivals while UNA was at the Division II level. This is the first meeting between the two with UNA as a Division I school.
- UNA is 35-5 in home non-conference games under Pujol over the last nine seasons.
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Tonight marks UNA's 550th all-time win inside CB&S Bank Arena at Flowers Hall.
- UNA is 72-35 all-time under Pujol in CB&S Bank Arena at Flowers Hall.
- Both teams shot between 43-44 percent on the night. Union made three more triples (9-6) but UNA found its advantage at the line with 20-26 shooting compared to just 9-14 for Union.
- UNA won the turnover battle 19-12 and had 13 steals, including four from Lax and three each from Harris and Evbagharu.
- The Lions had a 35-34 advantage in rebounds and an 11-9 advantage on the offensive boards, but heavily outscored Union 15-4 in second chance baskets.
- 6 — This is the number of free boneless wings that fans can retrieve at the Buffalo Wild Wings location in Florence after every UNA win with the purchase of six wings. Fans are encouraged to show their ticket or the social media graphic to retrieve the offer.
- 80 —Any time the Lions score 80 or more points, fans who attended the game can go to Rosie's Cantina in Downtown Florence to get a free cup of queso. Fans must show proof of attendance to retrieve.
- 60 — Any time the Lions score 60 or more points, fans can head to Culver's on Cloverdale Road to retrieve a free single scoop of custard by using the online code "CUSTARD4LIONS" as part of the "Swish for a Dish" promotion.
COMING UP NEXT
UNA will play a couple of power conference opponents next week with a trip to Oklahoma scheduled for Monday, Nov. 9 and Miami (FL) on Friday, Nov. 13.
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
