The first game of a two-game Gulf South Conference road swing did not go well for the North Alabama men.

UNA suffered through a miserable first half offensively in Thursday’s 69-54 loss at Christian Brothers. The Lions hit just five shots from the field and scored on 16 points in the first half. The 54 points is UNA’s lowest offensive output since losing 79-51 last season at Christian Brothers.

The Lions (9-2, 2-1 GSC) try to regroup today as they conclude the road trip against Delta State (4-6, 0-2) in Cleveland, Miss.

“All we can do is put this one behind us and get ready for Delta State,” coach Bobby Champagne said. “We have to go out now and earn a split. We can’t dwell on this loss.”

Delta State is coming off a 54-49 loss at Union on Thursday. The Statesmen rank last in the GSC in scoring (60.8 ppg.), despite having the conference’s leading scorer in senior forward Terry Leake (21.7 ppg.).

“Leake is a great scorer and they set a lot of screens for him,” Champagne said. “Defensively, they are going to pack it in and make you shoot contested shots.

“Obviously we have to do a better job executing our offense than we did against Christian Brothers. We have to understand that when we run a play we need to get what we want out of it.”

While the road trip did not start well for the men, the UNA women (10-3, 3-0) remained unbeaten in conference play with a 62-49 win at Christian Brothers. The Lions will face a huge challenge today against the Statesmen (7-3, 2-0). Delta State won 77-67 at Union on Thursday.

“The good thing is that Delta was on the road and not just sitting at home waiting on us,” coach Terry Fowler said. “I think they are 67-1 at home in their last 68 games there, so we have our work cut out for us.”

Delta State has a new coach in David Midlick. The Statesmen are more of a high-scoring team than they have been in the past, leading the GSC in scoring at 73.3 points per game.

“They do a lot more isolation than they did in the past,” Fowler said. “Their starting five is certainly as good as any in the conference.”

UNA and Delta State are the only two GSC teams that are still undefeated in conference play.”

“You always try to at least split on the road, but after winning the first one we want a sweep, Fowler said. “If we could find a way to get that sweep it would put us in great position.”

Jeff McIntyre can be reached at 256-740-5737 or jeff.mcintyre@TimesDaily.com.