University of North Alabama Athletics

FLORENCE -- North Alabama men's basketball coach Bobby Champagne has been preaching to his team all season that if the Lions outhustle their opponents, good things will happen. That hustle and intensity paid off in a major way Saturday when the Lions hustled their way to a stunning 78-75 win over No. 1 ranked Southern Indiana at Flowers Hall. "We knew they had an outstanding team and we knew we would have to force turnovers, get offensive rebounds, come up with loose balls and take charges to win," Champagne said. "We kept applying pressure and made it hard for them to run their offense and that was the key."

The Lions forced 31 USI turnovers, pulled 14 offensive rebounds and had players diving on the floor for every loose ball. UNA is now 3-0 overall, while Southern Indiana falls to 1-1. "This win gives us a lot of confidence and lets our players know that all the hard work they have been putting in practice is paying off."

UNA blew to a 48-33 lead at halftime, forcing 18 Screaming Eagle turnovers, while hitting six three-point baskets. That lead was extended to 17 early in the second half at 51-34 before USI came roaring back.

By the 6:06 mark, Southern Indiana had cut the lead to a single point at 66-65 on athree-point basket by Chris Brunson. Back-to-back baskets by Jerrell Vinson and Reprobatus Bibbs pushed the lead back to five .

USI closed to within a single basket twice in the final two minutes, including a 75-73 with 37 seconds left. UNA then increased its lead, despite poor free throw shooting, hitting three of six attenpts to make it 78-73 with six seconds left. A last-second basket by USI made the final count 78-75.

Balanced scoring paced the Lions, with A.J. Gordon leading the way with 17. Bibbs had 16, Pervis Key 15, Casey Holt 11, Luke Copeland nine and Vinson eight. UNA shot 48.4 percent from the floor (30-of-62) and made nine of 23 three-point attempts. UNA was a dismal 9-of-21 on free throws. Geoff Van Winkle led Southern Indiana with 13, Randy Holdbrook had 11 and David Bryant 10.

Southern Indiana was held to just 42 percent shooting from the floor and had 31 turnovers in the game. USI held a 43-37 rebounding advantage, led by Chris Thompson with 11. Gordon led UNA with nine rebounds. UNA hosts 11th ranked Kentucky Wesleyan on Monday nighta 6 p.m. at Flowers Hall.