The North Alabama Lions lost a hard fought game on Monday night and fell short of what would have been perhaps the biggest win in their men’s basketball program history.
On the road at Oklahoma, the Lions wound up losing 81-72 despite entering the game as a huge underdog, and at the halftime break, they only trailed 37-36. A big run from the Sooners wound up widening the gap after they opened the second half outscoring UNA 17-2, but the Lions were able to get it back to single digits via an Ansar Osman’s 3-pointer with just over 10 minutes left in the game.
Gave them a good fight in Norman…
Miami awaits us on Friday in Coral Gables! pic.twitter.com/EcLgUQmARI
— North Alabama Men's Basketball (@UNA_Basketball) November 10, 2026
Ultimately, Oklahoma was just a little bit too much for North Alabama to overcome, and though it was a very admirable effort, the Lions came up a little bit short.
It does not get any easier from here either. While Oklahoma is struggling out of the gate, the Lions will head South this weekend to face one of the best teams in the country in the No. 17 ranked Miami Hurricanes.
Things lighten up from there with a matchup at home against Fisk before facing Tusculum University and Alabama A&M at home, but then the Lions will head to Chicago for a matchup against DePaul of the Big East Conference.
UNA will not begin conference play until early January in the Western Athletic Conference, however Lions basketball is up and running. Despite the loss, this was an extremely encouraging result against Oklahoma.
Michael Brauner is a Senior Sports Analyst and Contributing Writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @MBraunerWNSP and hear him every weekday morning from 6 to 9 a.m. on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5, available free online.
