GREENVILLE, N.C. — Treasure secured.
On Wednesday, the Lions played a challenging road matchup at East Carolina and came out victorious inside Minges Coliseum, winning 74-67. The Lions led for over 31 minutes and never trailed in the second half.
The Lions (7-4) trailed 15-11 early on, but proceeded on a 25-7 run to end the half. Despite a season-high 15 turnovers, UNA showed no quarter and dominated the boards, won the three-point battle and hovered around 50 percent shooting the entire way. The icing on the cake was going 15-18 from the free throw line, including 12-14 in the final two minutes.
Four Lions finished in double figures, including a near-triple-double for senior Taye Fields with 12 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists. The eight assists ties a career-high set three times while playing at Missouri Western.
Junior guard Jacari Lane played at an all-conference level again tonight, scoring a game-high 19 points with a 4-7 showing behind the arc. Lane moves into 21st on UNA's all-time scoring list with 1,063 career points — two points shy of tying Wimp Sanderson for 20th.
Redshirt sophomore Corneilous Williams had 15 points and seven rebounds, leading the Lions with a +12 plus-minus rating. Senior Will Soucie scored 13 points.
ECU (7-4) was led by C.J. Walker and Cam Hayes with 35 combined points.
The Lions limited ECU's leading scorer RJ Felton to just eight points. Entering the game, Felton was averaging 18.8 points per game.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half: UNA trailed 15-11 midway through the first half but set the tone with a 16-2 run to reach double digit lead territory. At the final media timeout, UNA grew that lead to 32-18 on a Taye Fields layup, extending the run to 21-3. The Lions carried 36-22 lead into the locker room with Lane, Fields and Bacchus combining for 25 points. UNA started 5-15 on field goals but finished 15-31 for nearly 50 percent. ECU went 9-29 for 31 percent.
Second Half: ECU came out shooting 4-5 in the second half, but UNA answered going 4-7 to lead 47-34 at the first media timeout of the second half. ECU slowly moved the needle back on their side, pulling within two possessions at 50-45 with 9:06 to go. UNA held on to its lead and was up 62-56 with 2:09 to go, forcing ECU to foul on every possession the rest of the way. From there, UNA went 12-14 at the line to ice the game.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- UNA won the rebound advantage 39-28.
- UNA did not attempt a free throw in the first half. Corneilous Williams shot UNA's first free throws at the 9:50 mark of the second half.
- ECU went 1-2 on free throws in the first half and finished 12-19.
- UNA had a season-high 15 turnovers, but made up the difference with timely scoring and rebounding.
- ECU bcame the first team with under 10 turnovers against UNA, finishing with nine.
- UNA improves to a 5-1 record against first-time opponents this season.
- The Lions own road or neutral site wins over schools from the Mountain West (Air Force), Sun Belt (ULM) and American (ECU).
- UNA is now 1-5 against current members of the American Conference, including three games against Memphis and two against UAB.
COMING UP NEXT
UNA returns home to CB&S Bank Arena next Thursday, Dec. 19 to host Charleston Southern. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. This will be the final home game of the calendar year.