SFA Opens Homestand With Grambling
12/12/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 12, 2003
HOME FOR FIVE: The Lumberjacks host Grambling State (2-4) Saturday in the first game of a five game homestand that runs through Jan. 3. SFA enters the game seeking its 17th straight home court victory, which would set a new coliseum record for consecutive home wins. The 'Jacks have won 16 in a row at home, a streak that began with a 71-68 win over Oral Roberts University last Dec. 14. The 'Jacks tied that mark with the win over Alcorn State last week. The all-time home court winning streak is 47 straight victories from 1/14/67 to 12/3/70 - all of those games were played in Shelton Gym. The 'Jacks are 32-12 in the coliseum under Danny Kaspar. The 'Jacks went 6-7 in the coliseum in Kaspar's first season, but have since gone 26-5 at home.
LAST GAME: The Lumberjacks fell to 4-2 on the year with a 65-62 loss to Centenary, in Shreveport, La. Thursday night. SFA bounced back from two straight sub par shooting nights to post the second best shooting night of the year connecting on 23 of 45 from the field (.511), but it wasn't enough as Centenary used the free throw line and some clutch shooting from Andrew Wisniewski to beat the 'Jacks. SFA built a 22-12 lead on a 3-pointer from Antonio Burks with 7:20 remaining in the first half, but then went cold from the field as Centenary went on a 17-1 run to close the half and go into halftime leading 29-23. The 'Jacks erased the deficit with an 11-3 run of their own to open the second half but could never shake the Gents. The score was tied eight times over the final 20 minutes before Wisniewski scored 13 of his 21 points over the final 5:28 to lead Centenary to the win. The 'Jacks won every statistical category except the free throw line where Centenary outshot the 'Jacks 28-16 and outscored SFA 19-10 at the line.
VS. GRAMBLING: Grambling State leads the series 2-1, but the teams have not met since 1986. The 'Jacks are 1-0 against the Tigers in Nacogdoches, winning 124-86 in the 1967-68 season
THE TIGERS: The Grambling State Tigers enter the game 2-4 following a 102-88 win over Texas College, Thursday night. The Tigers have opened the season with road losses to Georgetown (36-83), Arkansas (46-64), Auburn (56-105) and Marquette (55-71), and also have a 113-95 win over Wiley College. The Tigers are led by Brion Rush's 20.0 ppg average. Paul Haynes is also adding 16.2 ppg. Grambling is averaging 68.0 points a night while allowing opponents an average of 84.3 points per game. Haynes also leads the Tigers on the glass, pulling down 7.8 rpg. He had 16 rebounds against Texas College Thursday night. Grambling State has been outrebounded by about four rebounds per game over the first six games of the year.
THE COACHES: The Lumberjacks are coached by Danny Kaspar (266-94) in his fourth year with the Lumberjacks. Kaspar is 47-42 at SFA. The Tigers are coached by Larry Wright, 32-88 at Grambling State.
UP NEXT: SFA continues the homestand Saturday, Dec. 20 against Oklahoma Panhandle State. The 'Jacks then close out the home and home series with Centenary, Dec. 22.
