RICHMOND, Ky. — The third-seeded EKU men's basketball team recorded its first ASUN Tournament win in program history in dominant fashion, defeating sixth-seeded North Alabama 73-48 in the quarterfinals on Tuesday night in Baptist Health Arena.
Devontae Blanton [ekusports.com] led the team with 15 points and was one of three Colonels in double figures. Isaiah Cozart [ekusports.com] finished with 12 points and six blocks, while John Ukomadu [ekusports.com] added 12 points and a team-high nine rebounds.
The Colonels scored the first seven points of the game and used six early points from Cozart to build a 12-2 lead at the 15-5 mark of the first half. EKU took a 14-point lead on Ukomadu's dunk off a Leland Walker [ekusports.com] alley-oop with 12:27 to go.
North Alabama scored five consecutive points to pull within nine, but three-pointers from Cooper Robb [ekusports.com] and Michael Moreno [ekusports.com] helped extend EKU's lead to 26-13 with 8:01 remaining in the half. Blanton took from there, scoring nine consecutive points as the Colonels moved ahead 35-16. EKU held UNA without a field goal for the final 4:15 of the first half and took a 37-19 lead into the locker room.
EKU maintained the momentum to open the second half as Cozart threw down a fast-break dunk at the 17:08 mark to make the score 44-22 before the Lions made their first field goal in over seven minutes of game time. DaShawn Jackson [ekusports.com] capped a 13-0 Colonel run with a long-range three to give EKU a 59-26 lead with 10:32 left to play.
The Colonels cruised the rest of the way as Ukomadu's layup with 6:30 remaining gave EKU its largest lead of the night at 65-28. All 12 Colonels who saw the floor finished with points as EKU wrapped up the 25-point victory.
EKU shot 41.3 percent (31-of-75) and was 36.8 percent from downtown. The Colonels dominated the glass, outrebounding the Lions 57-26 and notching a 21-4 advantage on the offensive glass. EKU outscored UNA 42-22 in the paint.
The Colonels held UNA to 29.1 percent shooting (16-of-55) on the night, including 21.7 percent (5-of-23) from three-point range. In a stretch of over 20 minutes of game action, the Lions missed 14 consecutive three-pointers.
EKU travels to face second-seeded Liberty in the semifinals on Thursday night.
