FLORENCE – The University of North Alabama men’s basketball team got scoring contributions from every dressed player Saturday in a 106-40 home win over Southeastern Baptist. The win gives UNA a 7-4 record on the season.
Omar Figueroa led all players with a career-high 23 points. The freshman from Carolina, Puerto Rico came off the bench and hit 9-of-13 shots from the floor, including five three-point baskets.
As a team, UNA passed 100 points for the third time on the season, but used an impressive defensive effort to take control early. Southeastern Baptist did not score for the first 6:45 of playing time as the Lions opened the game on a 17-0 run.
After the Chargers’ first basket cut the deficit to 17-2, the lead continued to grow. North Alabama led 37-15 after a basket by the visitors before the under-8 media timeout. Southeastern Baptist, however, would not score again over the final 7:46 of the half. A 10-0 run by the Lions made the score 47-15 by the next media break and UNA led 54-15 at the break.
A total of 10 different players scored in the first half for UNA. The Lions shot 61.3 percent from the floor while holding the visitors to 6-of-31 (19.4 percent) in the opening 20 minutes.
North Alabama emptied the bench in the second half, with every player seeing extensive playing time. The lead reached 40 on a hook shot by Damian Forrest at the 18:29 mark. A basket by Daniel Ortiz later made it 77-26 with 12:40 remaining.
The lead reached 60 when a three-pointer by Will Soucie made it 90-30 with 8:01 to play. The largest lead of the night came at the 3:56 mark when two free throws by Deraje Agbaosi pushed the score to 99-34.
The Lions flirted with several single-game records, including largest margin of victory. The 70-point win over DeVry (127-57) came on Jan. 2, 1992 at Flowers Hall. UNA also had 16 three-point baskets on the night, just missing the school record od 18 set at home against Trevecca Nazarene in 2013.
Soucie finished with 12 points while Forrest and Isaac Chatman added 10 points each. Forrest, a sophomore from Fort Collins, Colo., also pulled down 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season.
UNA will play at Central Florida on Dec. 22. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. (CST) on the UCF campus in Orlando, Fla.
