Lumberjacks Head to North Texas
12/29/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 29, 2005
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjack basketball team will finish off the 2005 portion of its schedule Friday with a road game against North Texas. The contest against the Mean Green is set to tip off at 7 p.m. from the Super Pit in Denton, Texas.
LAST GAME: The Lumberjacks rallied after a slow start to knock off Texas-Pan American, 71-52. SFA opened sluggishly and trailed UTPA, 29-28, at halftime, before a big second-half push sealed the victory. The win wrapped up a perfect four-game home stand for SFA (7-2) and improved the Lumberjacks' home record to 6-0. Senior point guard Marcus Clak paced the Lumberjacks with 21 points, 15 coming in the second half, when he led SFA to a 65.2 percent shooting performance.
VS. NORTH TEXAS: The all-time series between the Lumberjacks and the Mean Green stands at 34-33, in SFA's favor. Friday's game will be the first between the two schools since North Texas left the Southland Conference following the 1995-96 season. The 'Jacks last played UNT in 1996, losing, 72-65, in the William R. Johnson Coliseum. SFA has won eight of the last 10 regular-season meetings.
THE MEAN GREEN: North Texas brings a 5-4 mark to its meeting with the Lumberjacks. The Mean Green has posted a 5-1 record at home and is coming off a 101-62 pasting of Texas-Permian Basin. UNT is led by Kendrick Davis' 16.7 points per game. UNT's leading rebounder is Jeffrey Simpson (6.2).
THE COACHES: Danny Kaspar is in his sixth season as head coach of the Lumberjacks. Including a nine-year stint as head coach at Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Kaspar is 302-118 (.719) over his 14-year coaching career. Kaspar has guided the Lumberjacks to an 83-66 (.557) mark during his tenure. North Texas Coach Johnny Jones opened the season 64-80 in his five-year career with a 49-64 record in his four years at UNT.
UP NEXT: SFA will open Southland Conference play when the Lumberjacks head to Thibodaux, La. for a Jan. 5 game against Nicholls State. The contest is scheduled to tip off at 6 p.m.
NOTE: For complete game notes, click on the "Weekly Release" link on the sidebar of the men's basketball home page.
- SFA - ™
