MARTIN, Tenn. (November 22, 2023) – It took two overtimes to decide the first men's basketball meeting in over 30 years between the University of North Alabama and UT Martin on Wednesday.
A tough team to beat at home, the Skyhawks held off the Lions for a 105-103 victory inside the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center in Martin, Tenn. North Alabama had the final possession in regulation and both overtimes, but were unable to win it or break even in the second overtime period. There were 12 lead changes in the contest, including 11 in the second half.
A team-effort all around, the Lions had five players in double figure scoring since last season's overtime win at Eastern Kentucky. This also happened to be the last time UNA went to overtime in a game.
For the fourth time in as many games,
KJ Johnson led UNA in scoring with a season-high 27 points. He was four short of his career high of 31 set last season in the EKU overtime win.
Jacari Lane (19),
Marco Foster (14),
Tim Smith Jr. (12) and
Damian Forrest (10) joined him with double-figures.
True freshman
Canin Jefferson finished with a career-high nine points — one short of UNA having six players in double figures for the first time in 37 games.
The Skyhawks were led by Jordan Sears with 34 points, while Issa Muhammad had 18 points and 18 rebounds.
UNA nearly became the first team to defeat UT Martin in a non-conference game inside the Elam Center since Middle Tennessee State on Dec. 11, 2021. UT Martin is now 17-2 at home over the last two seasons.
Today marked UNA's first meeting with UT Martin in 32 years. The last time these two foes battled happened in 1991 — UT Martin's final year in Division II and the second of UNA's two Division II National Championships. Today was the first meeting between the two as dual members of Division I.
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST HALF: UT Martin had the first two points of the game, but the Lions quickly erased that with a 9-0 run to set the tone on two triples from Johnson and one from Smith Jr. Johnson had 11 points in the first six minutes to make it 16-8 and UNA maintained a lead the rest of the half. Forrest helped UNA take its largest lead of the half with a layup to cap off a 6-0 run to make it 25-12. Despite a 10 point deficit with 3:06 remaining, UT Martin worked back into it with an 8-0 run to make it 35-33 and later tied it with a triple from Koby Jeffries. Much like Saturday's second half with Jacksonville State, Johnson was the tie-breaker for UNA with a go-ahead triple to end the half.
SECOND HALF: Johnson started the second half with another triple to make it a two possession game within the first 10 seconds of the half, but UT Martin tied the game at 49-49 with 15:28 remaining. This set the stage for the events to come, as the lead changed 11 times after that. With 2:16 to go, Lane had a steal and score to make it 86-82, but a jumper by Sears and two free throws from Muhammad tied it at 86 with 43 seconds to go. The Lions had the final shot in regulation, opting to put the ball in the hands of last game's hero,
KJ Johnson. His three-pointer missed off the rim to send it to overtime at 86-86.
FIRST OVERTIME: UT Martin started the scoring in the second half and forced UNA to answer the next few possessions. A tough moment for UNA, Forrest fouled out and was replaced by junior guard
Will Soucie. Soucie provided a big answer behind the arc with a go-ahead three to make it 91-90 with 3:07 remaining.
Josiah Fulcher had a steal at the other end to set up a Lane jumper to extend the lead. UT Martin would go on to take the lead at 95-93 with 1:14 to go after another tough foul-out to Soucie. The Lions would go on to tie it on a Johnson jumper and had a chance to win on the final possession, but a missed triple by Lane sent it to a second OT.
SECOND OVERTIME: The see-saw affair continued into the second overtime period, as the score was tied at 99-99 after a pair of free throws by Lane. UT Martin went on a 5-0 run to jump ahead, but Foster hit a clutch triple to make it 104-102 with 1:10 remaining. Foster finished 4-8 behind the arc. The teams split free throws after that and Johnson had a chance to tie it in regulation, but the contested jumper rolled out off the front of the rim to end it.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Today marked UNA's first multi-overtime game since the 2015-16 season at Valdosta State, which went to three overtimes. The last UNA game to end in two overtimes came all the way back in the 1985-86 season against Athens State.
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UNA had five players with double figure scoring totals since last season's 98-93 overtime win at EKU.
- As a team, UNA set new season-highs in points (103), field goals (36), three-pointers (15), assists (17) and fouls (30).
- The Lions set a new school-record for three-point attempts with 37. The previous record was 36 against Nova Southeastern in 2006. Despite the high number of attempts, UNA still shot over 40 percent from the arc.
- UNA fell just two three-point makes short of the school record of 17 set in 2010 against Delta State.
- Both teams shot fairly even on the day with UNA at 45.6 percent and UT Martin at 48.6 percent. Both teams shot over 50 percent from the field in the second half and maintained at least a 40 percent mark behind the line throughout the game.
- UNA went 16-21 from the line, including a 6-7 showing from Smith Jr. Only four Lions made their way to the line. Meanwhile, UT Martin finished 24-36 at the line with 15 more opportunities than UNA.
- UT Martin had more points on fast breaks with a 22-7 advantage, while UNA did most of its scoring in offensive sets. Despite the fast break numbers, UNA had a 17-14 advantage in points off turnovers.
- UNA had just 12 turnovers while forcing 15 at the other end.
- Lane had a huge impact on the game with a team-leading +6 plus-minus rating, scoring 19 points with eight assists, three rebounds and three steals. Forrest also had a +6 rating, adding a pair of blocks to his near double-double.
- UNA retains a 29-23 advantage in the all-time series.
COMING UP NEXT
The Lions have another marquee mid-major matchup awaiting them after Thanksgiving, as UNA travels to Western Carolina (4-0) on Sunday, Nov. 26. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. WCU is currently ranked No. 14 in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 Poll.
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
