|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
 Over
the last 34 seasons, the University of
North Alabama basketball program has
reached heights that seemed impossible in
the early years of the program.
Winning the NCAA Division II National
championships in 1979 and 1991 and
reaching the Final Four on three other
occasions, Lion basketball teams have made
an impact on a regional and national
level.
 One
key factor in that success has been
Flowers Hall, a modern facility opened in
1972 that has been the scene of 360 UNA
wins and only 111 defeats over that
30-plus year period.
That 76.4 winning percentage at home
helped bring the UNA program from the
middle of the pack in the Gulf South
Conference to an annual role as a
contender for league honors and the NCAA
tournament.
 The
basketball banner that hangs above the
court gives testimony to the success that
has come to the UNA program. The Lions
were able to add their most recent
notation after the 1995-96 season by
winning the Gulf South Conference title,
the South Central Regionial and advancing
to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight
national tournament.
The first basketball game played in
Flowers Hall was on Oct. 5, 1972, when the
Boston Celtics and the Atlanta Hawks
battled in an exhibition game before a
crowd that overflowed the 4,000-seat
capacity of the new facility.
 UNA’s
initial game against St. Bernard College
ended in defeat on Nov. 18, but few
opposing teams since have left Flowers
Hall triumphant.
In 1977 UNA posted a perfect 16-0 record
at home and the 1984 Lions went 19-1 in
Flowers Hall en route to a third place
national finish.
On six occasions UNA has been chosen as
the host for NCAA regional and
quarterfinal tournaments in men’s
basketball and the Lions have responded
with a perfect 9-0 home court mark in NCAA
play.
 Flowers
Hall has also hosted the
Alabama/Mississippi High School All-Star
Basketball Game on odd numbered years
since 1991. In 1985 the original synthetic
floor was relaced with a new synthetic
floor. Also, in that same year a new
four-sided scoreboard was added to enhance
the Lion’s home court. In 1989 new theater
seating was installed on the home side for
season-ticket holders. In 1994 a new maple
wood floor was installed into the “Big
Yellow Ice Box.” In 2004 that floor was
replaced, as were the scoreboards and
scorers tables that had been used in
Flowers Hall for years. |
| | |
|
|
| | |