Stephen F. Austin
McNeese St.*
SFA Loses To McNeese State, 56-43
2/16/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 16, 2005
LAKE CHARLES, La. -- Poor shooting in the first half and 20 turnovers were a combination the Lumberjacks could not overcome Wednesday night in Lake Charles, as SFA fell to McNeese State, 56-43. The Lumberjacks (11-11, 5-6) fall below the .500 mark in conference play for the first time this season with the loss. McNeese State (9-13,4-7) moves to within a game of eighth place and the final spot in the SLC postseason tournament with the win.
The Lumberjacks were sluggish early, shooting only 29-percent in the first half of play and fell behind by 12 points at the half, 29-17. SFA came out in the second half and scored 10 unanswered points to pull to within two, 29-27 before the Cowboys answered with an 8-0 run of their own to re-build the lead back to double digits. The Lumberjacks managed another mini-challenge later in the half cutting the lead to only six points with just over three minutes to play, but the Cowboys again answered the SFA challenge and put the game away.
SFA ended the night 15-for-43 from the field (.348) while McNeese State was 24-for-54 (.444) for the game. SFA also struggled at the free throw line, connecting on just nine of 19 attempts. McNeese State was 6-8 (.750) at the line and also outrebounded the Lumberjacks 39-27 for the game. SFA is now 0-9 on the year when being outrbounded by an opponent.
Josh Porter and Hank Rivers were the only Lumberjacks in double figures with 10 points each. Marcus Clark was held to only two points in the game and did not score a point from the field. Anthony Paez played only sparingly in the game and finished with only three points for the Lumberjacks. Taylor Moore led SFA on the boards with 10 rebounds.
SFA returns home Saturday to host Southeastern Louisiana in a 4:00 p.m. tip.
