SFA To Take On Sam Houston On Fox Sports
1/27/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 27, 2004
GOOD TO BE HOME: The Lumberjacks will put nation's fourth longest home court winning streak on the line again Thursday night as SFA hosts rival Sam Houston in a key Southland Conference game for both teams. The 'Jacks will try to extend their home court winning streak to 25 straight games and also move to 4-2 in SLC action. The Bearkats are 2-3 in the SLC, but have lost two straight and are still in search of a win away from home. SFA has clamped down the defensive pressure of late and has held opponents to only 49.5 ppg over the last four home games. The 'Jacks are allowing 54.0 ppg over the last six games overall and are coming off a game in which they held UT-Arlington to only 44 points, the second lowest point total ever for a Maverick team. Thursday night's game will also be the first of two scheduled appearances on FOX Sports Net for the Lumberjacks.
LAST GAME: SFA ran its record to 12-4,3-2 with a 71-44 win over UT-Arlington Saturday in the coliseum. F Antonio Burks had a game high 21 points for the 'Jacks with G Marcus Clark adding 13 and G Jasen Gast adding 11. The 'Jacks trailed 4-2 early on before an 18-0 run gave SFA a 20-4 lead from which the Mavericks were never able to recover. UTA did cut the SFA lead back to five at one point in the first half before the trio of Clark, Burks and Gast scored eight straight points to stretch the lead back to 13 points. SFA was never threatened in the second half, building as much as a 29-point lead en route to the win. The 'Jacks outrebounded UTA 37-36 with F Rodrigo Segantim leading the way off the bench with seven rebounds in 24 minutes of play. The 'Jacks forced 27 UTA turnovers which were converted into 30 points.
VS. SAM HOUSTON: SFA leads the overall series 92-82, but Sam Houston holds a 17-12 edge in the series since both teams joined the Southland Conference. The 'Jacks are 2-11 against the Bearkats since 1997-98. SFA dropped two out of three to the Bearkats a year ago, winning in overtime 77-70 in Nacogdoches and dropping a 69-62 regular season decision in Huntsville. SFA also fell 69-66 in another overtime game in the Southland Conference tournament finals, in Huntsville, last March.
THE BEARKATS: Sam Houston enters the game at 7-9 overall and 2-3 in SLC play. The Bearkats have lost two straight and are 0-8 on the road so far this year. Included in that mark are road losses to Lamar (89-80) and to Southeastern Louisiana (80-77), Saturday. Joe Thompson, a 6-4 forward leads SHSU in scoring averaging 14.4 ppg. Kelvin Williams leads the Bearkats on the boards, pulling down 6.6 rpg. Sam Houston is second in the SLC behind Stephen F. Austin in field goal percentage shooting .453 from the field. The Bearkats are last in the conference in scoring defense allowing 78.6 ppg.
THE COACHES: The Lumberjacks are coached by Danny Kaspar (274-96) in his fourth year with the Lumberjacks. Kaspar is 55-44 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 1-6 against the Bearkats. Sam Houston is coached by Bob Marlin (215-101), in his sixth year at SHSU (92-66). Marlin is 10-1 against the 'Jacks.
UP NEXT: The 'Jacks go on the road Saturday to take on Southeastern Louisiana (1/31) before returning home for UT-San Antonio (2/4) and UL-Monroe (2/7).
