FLORENCE, Ala. (November 27, 2024) – Thanksgiving came early for the North Alabama men's basketball team on Wednesday, as the Lions broke 100 for the first time this season with a 100-69 victory over Dalton State inside CB&S Bank Arena.
UNA (5-3) ends the month of November with its best offense day of the season, shooting 53.1 percent from the floor and 14-29 behind the arc for a 48.3 percentage. The Lions also had a season-high 23 assists on 34 baskets.
Five Lions contributed double figure scoring totals. True freshman
Kevin de Kovachich was the star of the show with a career-high 23 points, going 8-9 from the floor and a perfect 4-4 from downtown. Junior transfer
Donte Bacchus had 18 points and three rebounds, while senior transfer
Taye Fields added 13 points and a team-high nine rebounds.
Senior
Daniel Ortiz accomplished a key milestone on Wednesday, sinking a three-pointer for his 1,000th career point at UNA. The third year Lion, who spent one season at UAB, has 1,237 career points with 1,004 of those at UNA. He is the 29th player in UNA history to score over 1,000 points.
This past weekend, junior guard
Jacari Lane scored his 1,000th point, becoming the 28th player in UNA history. Today, Lane played a backseat to his teammates, scoring just two points with a team-high six assists. This is the first time all season Lane has not scored in double-figures, playing the fourth-fewest minutes with the comfortable lead.
Sophomore
Canin Jefferson had 12 points, going 3-5 from downtown. He, Ortiz and de Kovachich combined for 12 of the 14 three-pointers made by UNA. Fields and Bacchus had one each.
Dalton State (6-2) was led by Kevin Henry with 13 points.
The Lions are now 20-0 against non-Division I opponents since moving up to DI in 2018. Dalton State is the 14th unique opponent in this stretch. UNA is also 29-4 in non-conference home games at the Division I level — all under head coach
Tony Pujol.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half: Bacchus and de Kovichich combined for 29 points in the first half, matching Dalton State's entire team as the Lions coasted to a 55-29 lead. Lane started the scoring with a three-pointer, but Dalton State took a 5-3 lead before a
Will Soucie layup tied it back up. UNA broke the 5-5 tie with a 12-0 run, then later led by 20 at 8:36 mark to go up 32-12. At that point, de Kovachich went on a personal 9-0 run, then ended the half with a three-pointer at the buzzer on a dish from Fields. UNA shot 56.25 in the first half, going 18-32 overall and 8-15 from three. Dalton State went 11-28 for 39 percent.
Second Half: The second half was more competitive, as UNA played out the stretch. Dalton State battled to the final whistle, scoring late and playing pressure defense until the very end, but the Lions were still able to reach the 100 point mark for the first time this season. Jefferson had the final two free throws to reach the mark.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- The 53.1 shooting percentage is the best for UNA since shooting 56.4 last season at Lipscomb on Jan. 20, 2024.
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The Lions had 53 points off the bench, a season-high.
- UNA had an 18-4 advantage in fast break points.
- UNA reached the 100 point threshold for the first time since Dec. 7, 2023 against Rust College — just under a year ago.
- This marks the ninth time in the last five seasons UNA has scored over 100 points.
- Today also marks the second straight year with over 100 points in a Thanksgiving Eve game. Last season, the Lions fell 105-103 in double overtime at UT Martin.
- Bacchus and de Kovachich both had their UNA career-highs.
- Five players had at least three assists — Lane (6), Fields (5), Soucie (4), Jefferson (3), de Kovachich (3)
- Freshman big man Israel Jenrette had three blocks and four rebounds, matching his season-high in blocks set against Point.
COMING UP NEXT
UNA will break for Thanksgiving, then pick back up this Sunday at Wofford. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. CT in Spartanburg, S.C. Wofford will be the second opponent for UNA in the ASUN/SoCon Challenge.
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
