SFA On The Road Against UL-Monroe
1/21/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 21, 2004
A ROAD WIN: SFA goes out on the road for a brief one game trip Thursday night in search of an elusive road win. After opening the year with two straight road wins against Baylor and Alcorn State, the 'Jacks have lost three straight away from the William R. Johnson Coliseum, including the SLC season opener against Northwestern State earlier this month. The Lumberjacks are 2-3 on the road so far this year and 0-1 in conference play. SFA went 6-4 in SLC road action in 2003, including an 82-72 win over the Indians to open the conference season a year ago. The Lumberjacks will be without F Taylor Moore for the remainder of the season after it was learned Moore failed to meet NCAA academic requirements. He was the team's leading rebounder and second leading scorer over the first 14 games of the season.
LAST GAME: The 'Jacks moved to 2-1 in SLC play with a convincing 61-43 win over Southeastern Louisiana. SFA's defensive pressure proved to be too much for the Lions as SLU managed to shoot just 32 percent from the field (14-44) for the game. The Lions didn't help themselves any at the free throw line making only 12 of 25 free throws (.480) in the game. Four Lumberjacks finished the night with 10 points each to pace a balanced SFA attack. Jasen Gast, B.J. Banks, Antonio Burks and Josh Porter all scored 10 points, with Porter's 10 points coming off the bench. The 'Jacks built a 13-point halftime lead and had the lead trimmed to 10 points once in the second half before stretching it back to as many as 20 points over the final 20 minutes of play. SFA outrebounded the Lions 35-24.
VS. UL-MONROE: UL-Monroe leads the series 27-13 and holds a 24-10 edge since both teams joined the Southland Conference. The 'Jacks have won four of the last six meetings between the two teams, but are 1-4 against the Indians in Monroe since the 1997-98 season. SFA swept both games last season from the Indians, winning in Monroe by an 82-72 score and beating UL-Monroe 66-58, in Nacogdoches.
THE INDIANS: UL-Monroe enters the game with a 6-12 overall record and is 2-2 in Southland Conference play. UL-Monroe dropped a 94-81 decision to Sam Houston State Saturday and has lost four of its last six games. ULM is 5-2 at home this season. John Andrews is the only Indian averaging double figures at 10.4 ppg. DeAndre Alexander leads ULM on the boards pulling down 6.7 rpg. The Indians have 11 players averaging at least 12 minutes per game. UL-Monroe is shooting just .413 from the field and .368 from behind the three point arc.
THE COACHES: The Lumberjacks are coached by Danny Kaspar (273-95) in his fourth year with the Lumberjacks. Kaspar is 54-43 at SFA. The fourth year head moved past Stan McKewen on the all-time wins list in seventh place, at 50 with the win earlier this year over Cameron. Next on the list is Glen Rose with 56 wins at SFA. Kaspar is 4-2 against the Indians. UL-Monroe is coached by Mike Vining (388-276), in his 23rd season at UL-Monroe.
UP NEXT: The Lumberjacks return home to take on UT-Arlington (1/24) Saturday, then host Sam Houston State on Thursday, Jan. 29 in a regionally televised game on FOX Sports Net. The 'Jacks then go on the road to Hammond, La. to take on Southeastern Louisiana to close out the month (1/31).
