Stephen F. Austin
Texas A&M Corpus Christi
Kingsley Makes Splash Against Islanders
2/6/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 6, 2008
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Junior center Matt Kingsley scored a season-high 29 points to lead Stephen F. Austin to a 71-62 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Wednesday at the American Bank Center.
Kingsley scored the first six points of the game for SFA and finished with a solid showing at the free throw line down the stretch to hold off a hard-charging Islanders team.
The win moves SFA to 18-3 on the season and keeps the Lumberjacks in front of the Southland Conference West Division race with a 6-2 mark in league action.
After a hot first half, the Lumberjacks slumped below 30 percent shooting early in the second half, hitting just five of their first 17 shots after intermission. But Kingsley scored 17 of his points in the second half and was a perfect 8-for-8 from the foul line to help SFA weather the storm.
Junior forward Josh Alexander finished with 15 points on 4-for-8 shooting from 3-point range. He also pulled down five rebounds to go along with Kingsley's team-leading six.
The Lumberjacks built a 32-23 halftime lead behind their best first-half shooting performance of the season. SFA hit 60 percent from the field behind the efforts of Kingsley and Alexander. Kingsley went 5-for-6 from the field in the opening frame and finished with 13 points - his second-best first-half total of the season. Alexander added 12 first-half points on 4-of-7 shooting - all from 3-point range.
SFA scored 11 points off eight Corpus Christi turnovers in the opening period and held the Islanders to 1-of-4 shooting on 3-pointers. The Lumberjacks finished with an 18-9 advantage in points off turnovers, helping to offset a 14-2 edge in second-chance points for the Islanders.
The Lumberjacks finished the game shooting 51.2 percent from the floor and just missed a season-high in free throw percentage by hitting 20-of-24 (.833) for the contest.
Senior forward Scott Weaver joined Kingsley and Alexander in double figures with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting, both season-highs. Sophomore point guard Eric Bell scored six points and dished out seven assists. Senior guard Gerald Fonzie added five points, freshman Eddie Williams had four points, and junior forward Nick Shaw chipped in with a pair.
SFA will be back in action Saturday, when the Lumberjacks host Texas-San Antonio in a 6 p.m. contest.
-- SFA --
