Box Score

JACKSON, Tenn. – The Union University men's basketball fell short in their upset bid of No. 25 University of North Alabama. The Lions edged Union 85-80 at Fred DeLay Gymnasium Saturday afternoon. Union dropped to 4-3 on the season and 0-1 in the Gulf South Conference. North Alabama improved to 7-2 overall and 1-0 in league play.

With the loss, Union's nine game home court winning streak comes to an end. Included in that nine game streak was a 101-99 overtime win over then No. 24 North Alabama at the end of last season. 

An action packed opening few minutes found Eric Leisey making a layup off a pass from AJ Roberts to tie the score 7-7. The teams then took turns making 7-0 runs; the Lions held a 14-7 advantage at 14:27 then Union responded with a Roberts three point shot and back-to-back layups from Miguel Martinez to knot the score 14-14 at the 13:58 mark. A 3-point bucket by Felipe Rocha gave Union a 25-21 lead and completed an 11-5 spurt with 8:00 left in the half. Lonnie Smith netted a jump shot to push the Lions ahead 36-33 at the 3:00 point. The Bulldogs ended the first frame by outscoring the Lions 11-4 over the final 2:44 to gain a 44-40 halftime edge.

Corieon Pearson swished a 3-point basket at 17:41 to advance the Union margin to five, 49-44. The Lions scored eight of the next ten points to take a 52-51 lead on a pair of free throws by Rashaun Claiborne with 15:33 in the contest.  The teams proceeded to trade buckets with Roy Bullock knocking home a three off a dish from Roberts at 12:15 that made the score 58-57. It (58-57) was the last Union lead of the game. A layup by Nathan Spehr ten seconds later put North Alabama on top 59-58. The layup began a 10-0 run that was finished when Bruce Adams hit a layup at 8:41, 67-58. Union sliced into the nine point cushion with five straight points to make it 67-63 a little more than six minutes left. North Alabama upped the lead to 74-63 at 5:23 with Spehr capping the 7-0 run with a three point goal and jumper. In the waning minutes Union closed to within two possessions but were unable to get any closer than 84-80 as a free throw from Claiborne made the final 85-80

Leading the Bulldogs in scoring was Pedro Faller with 18 points followed by 17 from Rocha. Roberts added 12 and Pearson 11. Pearson snared 11 rebounds. The Bulldogs shot a season low 29 percent from the field in the second half. The Bulldogs outrebounded the Lions 44-41. Union committed five turnovers during the last 12:00 of regulation while North Alabama did not give the ball away during that span. For the first time this season the Bulldogs had more turnovers (16) than assists (15).

Spehr led three Lions in double figures with 23 points. Claiborne contributed 14 and Wes Long 13. Spehr and Long were a combined 8-of-14 from long range for North Alabama. Adams recorded 11 rebounds. North Alabama made nine turnovers in the game.

Union travels to Shorter University (Ga.) on Wednesday for a 7:00 p.m. tipoff and then to West Georgia Saturday to close out the pre-Christmas schedule.

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