'Jacks In Finals Against UT-San Antonio
3/11/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 11, 2004
TOURNAMENT FINALS: SFA will make its second straight conference tournament finals appearance Friday afternoon, in San Antonio, following a thrilling 69-68 win over UT-Arlington Wednesday night in the semi-finals of the SLC Postseason Tournament. SFA, the fourth seed heading into the postseason field, will face third seed UT-San Antonio which defeated Southeastern Louisiana Wednesday night, 87-85. The 'Jacks win Wednesday night was the first time ever a Lumberjack team has won two games in the SLC postseason tournament and put SFA in the tournament finals for the second straight year. SFA is 0-1 in the conference tournament finals after dropping a 69-66 overtime decision to Sam Houston last year.
LAST GAME: The Lumberjacks got a three-pointer from Antonio Burks with 4.9 seconds left to lift them to a 69-68 win over UT-Arlington in the semi-finals of the Southland Conference Postseason Tournament. The win was the first for SFA in Texas Hall since a 65-64 win in 1997. UT-Arlington held a 68-63 lead with :41 left before Marcus Clark cut the lead to two on a three-pointer with :27 to play. SFA then sent UTA's Jarrett Howell to the line with :20 to play to shoot the front end of the one-and-one. Howell missed the free throw and Dedrick Sanders pulled down the rebound to set up some last second heroics for Antonio Burks. Burks nailed his second three-pointer of the night to give SFA a one-point lead with 4.9 seconds to play. Burks' three was his 76th of the season, tying the single season record for trey's in a season. Derrick Obasohan took the inbounds pass and dribbled to mid-court where his last second shot was off the mark preserving the 'Jacks one-point win. SFA ended the night shooting 44.6 percent (25-56) from the field while UT-Arlington shot .449 (22-49). SFA outrebounded the Mavericks 35-27 for the game. Dedrick Sanders led SFA with 20 points while Hank Rivers recorded his first double-double as a Lumberjack with 11 points and 13 rebounds.
VS. UT-SAN ANTONIO: UTSA leads the series 16-9, but SFA has won the last four meetings between the two teams. The Roadrunners have won 10 of the 12 games played in San Antonio. The 'Jacks beat the Roadrunners 69-60 earlier this season in Nacogdoches (see page 12 for box score). SFA won 77-66 in San Antonio last season behind a career high 20-points from Jasen Gast.
THE ROADRUNNERS: UT-San Antonio (18-13) advanced to the finals with a thrilling last second win of its own Wednesday night over Southeastern Louisiana, 87-85. UTSA got 24 points from Kurt Attaway with LeRoy Hurd adding 17. UTSA's Justin Harbert made three free throws with :16 remaining to give UTSA the lead. The 'Runners added another free throw later to give them a two-point cushion. Nate Lofton's shot at the buzzer rimmed out giving the Roadrunners the win. UTSA has won six straight and nine of its last 10 games. The tri-champs are 10-4 at home this year.
THE COACHES: The Lumberjacks are coached by Danny Kaspar (283-100) in his fourth year with the Lumberjacks. Kaspar is 64-48 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 earlier this year. Next on the list is Ned Fowler with 78 wins. Kaspar is 4-3 against the Roadrunners. UT-San Antonio is coached by Tim Carter, in his 9th year at UTSA with a record of 133-121. He is 126-124 in 10 seasons as a head coach.
UP NEXT: With a win, SFA would make its first ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
