Stephen F. Austin
Mcneese State*
`Jacks Escape Lake Charles Victorious
2/15/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 15, 2006
LAKE CHARLES, La. - The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjack basketball team held off a late McNeese State rally Wednesday night to record an 82-76 victory over the Cowboys in Burton Coliseum. The victory improved the `Jacks to 13-9 (.591) overall and 6-6 (.500) in Southland Conference play. McNeese State falls to 12-10 (.545) overall and 7-4 (.636) in league action.
The Lumberjacks were dialed-in from long range nailing 10-of-14 (.714) three-pointers. SFA was led by freshman Josh Alexander who scored a team-high 25 points on 6-of-9 (.667) shooting from beyond the three-point arc. Alexander also pulled down a team-high nine rebounds.
The `Jacks went into the locker room with a 17-point lead, 44-27. SFA looked to be cruising to an easy victory pushing that advantage to 26 points in the second half, but the home-standing Cowboys made one last rally to cut the Lumberjack to lead to single-digits behind Quentin Gonzales' 15 points, 13 of which he scored in the second half.
SFA was up to the challenge holding off the Cowboys behind senior Anthony Paez's 18 points on 8-of-9 (.889) shooting. Sophomore Gerald Fonzie came off the bench to score a career-high 14 points in the victorious effort.
The `Jacks shot 27-of-43 (.628) from the field and also connected on 18-of-24 (.750) free throws. SFA held McNeese State to a 26-of-61 (42 percent) performance.
SFA returns to action Saturday when they travel to Lafayette, La., to face the Rajin Cajuns. The game against Louisiana-Lafayette is slated to begin at 4 p.m.
-SFA-
