SFA Hosts UL-Monroe Indians Saturday At 4:00
2/6/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 6, 2004
KEEPING IT GOING: The Lumberjacks host UL-Monroe Saturday afternoon looking to extend the home court winning streak to 27 straight games. A win over the Indians would also avenge an earlier 60-58 loss to UL-Monroe, in Monroe, La. The 'Jacks assured themselves their third straight season with at least a .500 record with Wednesday night's win over UT-San Antonio. SFA needs to win six of its final nine games to post another 20-win season. To do that, the 'Jacks would have to claim at least half of those wins on the road, plus win the three remaining home games. The Lumberjacks go on the road for three straight following Saturday afternoon's match-up with UL-Monroe, and play five of the next six away from the William R. Johnson Coliseum.
LAST GAME: The 'Jacks rallied from a 10-point first half deficit to beat UT-San Antonio, 69-60 and post the 26th straight win in the coliseum. SFA is 12-0 at home this year and currently holds the nation's fourth longest home court winning streak. UTSA came out looking to snap that streak as the Roadrunners connected on the first eight three point attempts of the game to build the early lead. The 'Jacks trimmed the lead to six at the half, 36-30 and stepped up the defensive pressure and found the range from the field in the second half to turn the tide. SFA took the lead with 7:10 remaining in the game on a lay-up by Leonard Brown, then outscored UTSA 20-12 down the stretch for the win. Antonio Burks led the 'Jacks with 14 points while B.J. Banks and Dedrick Sanders had 12 each and Marcus Clark added 11. The 'Jacks forced 21 UTSA turnovers and outscored the 'Runners 20-11 on points off turnovers.
VS. UL-MONROE: UL-Monroe holds a 28-13 edge in the series and holds a 25-10 edge since both teams joined the SLC. The Indians won 60-58, earlier this year in Monroe, snapping a three game win streak over the Indians by the 'Jacks. SFA has won the last three games in Nacogdoches.
THE INDIANS: UL-Monroe is in fifth place in the SLC with a 6-3 conference mark and stands 10-13 overall. The Indians are 2-8 on the road this season and 8-3 at home including the eariler win over the Lumberjacks. UL-Monroe entered play Thursday with the SLC's best perimeter defense, holding opponents to a .309 shooting percentage from beyond the 3-point arc. The Indians are tenth in the conference in scoring offense, averaging only 68.4 points per game. John Andrews is the only Indian averaging double figures with his 10.2 ppg. DeAndre Alexander leads ULM on the glass and is seventh in the SLC with a 6.5 rpg average.
THE COACHES: The Lumberjacks are coached by Danny Kaspar (276-96) in his fourth year with the Lumberjacks. Kaspar is 57-44 at SFA. The fourth year head coach moved past Glen Rose into sixth place on the all time wins list with the win over UTSA. Next on the list is Ned Fowler with 78 wins. Kaspar is 3-3 against the Indians. UL-Monroe is coached by Mike Vining (392-277), in his 23rd year with the Indians.
UP NEXT: The 'Jacks open a three game road trip with stops at Southeastern Louisiana (2/9), UT-Arlington (2/14 on FOX Sports Net), and McNeese State (2/18).
