North Alabama’s men pick up key ASUN Conference victory in home win over Lipscomb

North Alabama’s dream season continued in a big way on Thursday night.

The Lions picked up a 74-64 home win over Atlantic Sun Conference foe Lipscomb, moving the Lions to 5-2 in conference play and giving them their highest-ranked NET victory of the year.

North Alabama (13-7, 5-2) moved to a tie for third place in the ASUN with the win behind Jacksonville and Florida Gulf Coast, who are 6-1 in conference play.

After leading 36-33 at halftime, North Alabama held a lead throughout the game and went on to hold the visiting Bison to their lowest point total of the season in conference play.

“Seven years in the making,” North Alabama coach Tony Pujol said on the broadcast after the game in front of a packed crowd, before repeating, “Seven years in the making. This is a moment that I want to make sure — coach Bill Jones and Gary Elliott — these guys play for national champions in here, and this is one of our goals is to get all these guys really excited about the program.

“I’m just happy to be here right now.”

The Lions shot 47% from the field in the win and had four players score in double figures.

Huntsville native and Lee High Schoo alum Jacari Lane led the Lions with 18 points, going 6-for-12 from the field while dishing out a game-high six assists.

“It was a great performance,” Lane said after the win. “We prepared all week for this, and when it came down to it, we executed and got the win.”

Corneilous Williams posted a double-double in the win for the Lions with 11 points and 14 rebounds, scoring two of the first three possessions for North Alabama; it marked his fifth double-double of the season.

Daniel Ortiz (12 points) and Will Soucie (11 points) both finished in double figures for the Lions.

Opelika native and Lee-Huntsville alum Taye Fields finished with 9 points and eight rebounds in the victory.

The Lions will host Austin Peay (8-12, 3-4 ASUN) on Saturday at 6 p.m. inside CB&S Bank Arena in Florence.