FLORENCE, Ala. – The Jacksonville University men's basketball team (7-9, 0-1 ASUN) battled North Alabama (6-8, 1-0 ASUN) on the road to open up ASUN play on Thursday night and despite being plagued by turnovers, nearly found a way to knock off the Lions who remain unbeaten at home, 62-57.

This was a wild one from the start. Five lead changes, eight ties, 44 total turnovers, 44 total fouls and 48 free throws told the story of this game and through it all, the Dolphins still managed to shoot 43.8 percent from floor while holding UNA to 36.4 percent.

It was an extended drought over the final 9:49 of the second half that doomed the Dolphins in this one. At that time, Destin Barnes canned a runner to move his team ahead by eight, 51-43, but only six more points followed, allowing UNA to climb all the way back and claim victory.

Kevin Norman (Hodges Mazda Player of the Game) paced the scoring effort for Jacksonville with 14 points to go with a career-high 10 rebounds while Alabama native Diante Wood came off the bench for a career-high 13 points with five boards. Bryce Workman continued to provide strength down low with seven points and six rebounds. He was one of three Dolphins (Mo Arnold, Diante Wood) to post a positive number in the +/- column. Wood led all players in the game that category at +14.

Jacksonville was hot early, posting a 13-25 (52.0) clip in the first half while holding UNA to 11-28 (39.3). The defense was even better in the second half, holding the Lions to just 9-27 from the floor but an 8-23 mark that included 0-5 from long range kept this one close. The late second-half cold streak turned out to be the difference.

With proof that the ASUN race is going to be exciting in 2020, the Dolphins will travel home to square off with NJIT on Thursday (Jan. 9). That game is set to tip off at 7 p.m. inside Swisher Gymnasium.