GAME NOTES: at Longwood
12/10/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 10, 2009
NACOGDOCHES, Texas -
Complete Release in PDF Format 
VITALS
Stephen F. Austin at Longwood
Saturday, Dec. 12, 2009 • 12:30 p.m. (CST)
Willett Hall (1,807) • Farmville, Va.
Radio: KTBQ 107.7-FM • TV: None • Online: None
Lumberjacks
Record: 5-2
Last 5/Streak: 4-1/W4
Coach: Danny Kaspar
Career: 382-158
At SFA: 163-106
SID: Brian Ross
E-mail: rossbrian@sfasu.edu
Web: sfajacks.com
Lancers
Record: 1-8
Last 5/Streak: 1-4/W1
Coach: Mike Gillian
Career: 52-138
At LU: 52-138
SID: Greg Prouty
E-mail: proutygd@longwood.edu
Web: longwoodlancers.com
GAME INFORMATION
LONGWOOD, LONG-DISTANCE: The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjack basketball team will hit the road this weekend to take on Longwood. The trip to Farmville, Va., will be SFA's second-longest of the season at just over 1,100 miles. Saturday's game is just the Lumberjacks' third road contest of the year. SFA brings a 5-2 record to the showdown, while Longwood comes in at 1-8.
LAST GAME: Denzel Barnes hit a pair of free throws with half a second left, and SFA took a 62-61 win over Cal State Fullerton in the final game of the inaugural Etech Lumberjack Classic. Barnes took the inbounds pass with four seconds left and went the length of the floor before drawing contact on a jumper in the paint with less than a second to play. SFA led by double digits early in the first half, but the game featured eight lead changes over the final 10 minutes. Barnes, a junior point guard, finished with 10 points in the game and was named to the Etech Classic all-tournament team after scoring a career-high 14 points against Southern the day before. Senior guard Walt Harris put up a career-high 20 points against the Titans and took tournament MVP honors. SFA shot just 37 percent -- a season-low among winning efforts -- but forced 19 turnovers and converted them to 23 points. Junior forward Jordan Glynn scored 13 points to join Harris and Barnes in double digits and added 10 rebounds for his second straight double-double in the 'Classic.
THE LANCERS: Longwood is 1-8 this season but has suffered due to a road-heavy early schedule. The Lancers have played significantly better in their two home and two neutral-site games. Longwood picked up its first win of the season at home against Florida Gulf Coast on Saturday. In each of the other three non-road contests, the Lancers were defeated by four points or fewer.
vs. LONGWOOD: Saturday's meeting will mark the first between SFA and the Lancers. The Lumberjacks haven't played a regular-season game in the eastern time zone since opening the 2004-05 season with a 76-75 loss at South Florida.
COVERAGE: Saturday's game will be broadcast live on the Lumberjack Sports Network via KTBQ 107.7-FM. Rob Meyers has the call. The broadcast is available online at Q1077.com. Fans can also track the game via live stats on the Longwood athletics Web site.
UP NEXT: SFA will travel to Arkansas on Saturday, Dec. 19. The game against the Razorbacks is scheduled for a 3 p.m. tip.
NEWS AND NOTES
TOURNAMENT TRENDS: SFA went 2-0 in the inaugural Etech Lumberjack Classic, taking wins against Southern and Cal State Fullerton. That performance moved the 'Jacks to 8-0, all-time, in home regular-season tournament contests. The Etech Classic marked SFA's first home tournament since the Tall Pines Classic in the 1976-77 season.
ON THE REBOUND: Jordan Glynn posted three straight 10-rebound performances, starting at Jackson State and running through the Lumberjacks' win over Cal State Fullerton. He is the first SFA player in 10 seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar to record three straight double-digit rebound games. Included in that stretch are double-doubles with 11 and 13 points, respectively, against Southern and Cal State Fullerton.
CAREER-HIGH: Senior Walt Harris put up career-highs in scoring twice in three games last week. Harris scored 15 points in SFA's win at Jackson State on Tuesday, then led the team with 20 points in the win over Cal State Fullerton on Saturday.
PERFECTION: Junior point guard Denzel Barnes put up the most efficient performance of the young season in SFA's win over Southern. Barnes came off the bench and hit all six of his field goal attempts, including two 3-pointers, to put up a game-high 14 points in just 13 minutes of action. In three games last week, Barnes shot .632 from the field, .714 from 3-point range and went 7-for-7 at the foul stripe to average 12 points per contest.
THREE STRAIGHT: The Lumberjacks knocked off Jackson State, Southern and Cal State Fullerton in succession last week, marking SFA's first winning streak of the year. Including the victory over Huston-Tillotson, the 'Jacks have now won four straight, putting them halfway to tying last year's season-best eight-game win streak that ended with the NCAA Tournament loss to Syracuse.
ROAD NON-CONFERENCE: The Lumberjacks' 79-68 win at Jackson State marked their first road victory of the year and their first non-conference road win since taking a 66-64 verdict at Drake on Dec. 13 of last season.
TWENTY-SOMETHING: Eddie Williams scored 24 points against Jackson State. That marked the first 20-point performance by a Lumberjack this season and the first since Matt Kingsley put up 20 against UTSA in the championship game of last year's Southland Conference Tournament. Williams has broken the 20-point barrier three times in his career, twice hitting a career-high 25 points last season.
HALF FULL: SFA trailed at halftime in both its games against Jackson State, but the 'Jacks came back to win in both contests. SFA is now 2-2 this year when trailing at the half. The 'Jacks went just 1-4 in such situations all of last season.
HIGH PERCENTAGE: SFA shot a season-best .585 from the field in its win over Huston-Tillotson. The 'Jacks achieved that mark by taking high-percentage shots. SFA outscored the Rams, 52-24, in the paint. Eddie Williams scored a game-high 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the floor. All but one of his field goals came on layups. The .585 shooting percentage is SFA's best since shooting .630 in an 82-67 win at Jackson State in the 2007-08 season.
SLIGHT BLOCKAGE: Coming into its game with Texas Tech, SFA had gone the first two contests of the season without registering a blocked shot. But the 'Jacks swatted two attempts against Tech. The first Lumberjack to record a block in the 2009-10 campaign? Five-foot, three-inch Eric Bell. The SFA point guard knocked down a shot by Tech's John Roberson on the Red Raiders' second possession. It was Bell's fourth career rejection and his first since turning away a shot at Southeastern Louisiana in the 2007-08 season.Two of his five career blocks have come against Big 12 competition, as Bell registered a block in SFA's win at Oklahoma in 2007-08.
HOME-WRECKERS: SFA brought a 15-game homecourt winning streak into its game with Texas Tech, and the Lumberjacks had not lost a home, non-conference game since the 2006-07 campaign. But the Red Raiders left Johnson Coliseum with a 63-61 win, marking the first SFA home loss since a 75-65 defeat against UT Arlington in the second-to-last home game of the 2007-08 season. The Lumberjacks went 13-0 at home last season. SFA is now 27-2 in its last 29 home, non-conference match-ups.
COMEBACK: SFA didn't hold a lead in the second half of its home win against Jackson State until Jordan Glynn gave the Lumberjacks the lead with 1.1 seconds left. SFA came from behind in the final five minutes just one time in the 2008-09 season.
HOME OPENER: SFA knocked off Jackson State, 62-61, in the 2009-10 home opener. Head coach Danny Kaspar's teams are 10-0 in home openers at SFA. The last time an SFA team failed to win its home opener was a 67-55 loss to Texas A&M in 1998.
RECORD LOWS IN MINNESOTA: SFA's 82-42 loss at Minnesota goes into the books as the worst margin of defeat in nine-plus seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar. The previous record was a 31-point defeat (92-61) at Arizona in the first game of the 2001-02 season. In all, the 'Jacks have suffered just 12 losses by 20 or more points, and only two by 30 or more, in 264 games under Kaspar.
SEASON OPENERS: SFA is 6-4 in season-opening games under head coach Danny Kaspar. The Lumberjacks have compiled an 11-13 record in season openers as a Division I program (since 1986-87 season). SFA is 1-4 under Kaspar when opening on the road and is just 1-7, in all, as a Division I program when playing the season opener on the road. The Lumberjacks' only season-opening road win in the last 23 seasons was an 82-72 verdict at Tulsa to start the 2005-06 campaign.
FOUR OF A KIND: Former McLennan Community College players Walt Harris, Jordan Glynn, Orren Tims and Eric Bell make SFA the only Division I team in the country with four players from the same junior college on its roster.
BIG WILL: At six feet, 10 inches tall, Will Reinke is the tallest player signed in Danny Kaspar's nine-year tenure at SFA. The only other Lumberjack over 6-9 to play under Kaspar is Stephen Cobb, a 6-11 center who was on the team when Kaspar took over.
ATTENDANCE: SFA ranked second in the Southland Conference last season in average attendance, drawing 3,140 fans per home game. So far this season, the 'Jacks average 2,394 fans per contest.
SITTIN' ON TWENTY: SFA's win over Central Arkansas last season on March 4 gave the Lumberjacks their second straight 20-win season and the fourth in nine seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar. At 24-8 overall, SFA finished as the only team in the Southland Conference with single digits in the loss column.
SAFE AT HOME: In nine-plus seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar, the Lumberjacks have compiled a 105-28 (.789) record in the William R. Johnson Coliseum. SFA is 301-119 (.717) all-time in the Coliseum. The Lumberjacks finished the 2008-09 home slate with a perfect 13-0 record, marking the fourth straight season and the sixth time in seven years for SFA to post double-digit wins at home.
SCOUTING THE LANCERS
FOR THE RECORD: Longwood brings a 1-8 record into Saturday's meeting. The Lancers opened their season with eight straight losses -- seven on the road before knocking off Florida Gulf Coast at home Saturday. Three of Longwood's eight losses came by four points or fewer. The Lancers' worst defeat of the season was a 98-59 blowout at Old Dominion on Nov. 17 as part of the South Padre Island Invitational.
LAST GAME: Five Lancers reached double digits in scoring Saturday as Longwood took an 82-75 home win over Florida Gulf Coast. Sophomore center Antwan Carter came off the bench for a game-high 20 points with six rebounds and two blocks. Seniors Dana Smith and Kevin Swecker added 17 points apiece, and Smith pulled down 12 rebounds. Swecker knocked down four 3-pointers. Longwood played just three reserves and had three starters log 30 minutes or more. The Lancers were outrebounded, 44-37, but shot 46.6 percent from the field and hit 10 3-pointers.
KEY NUMBERS: The Lancers average 66.6 points per game, nearly identical to the Lumberjacks' offensive output. However, Longwood plays a significantly faster brand of basketball than SFA. The Lancers average 72.1 possessions per game, which ranks 82nd in the country. The Lumberjacks' pace of 66.3 touches per contest ranks 269th nationally. At the other end of the floor, Longwood opponents average 77.6 points per game and are shooting 48 percent from the field and 40 percent from 3-point range, with each of those averages falling below 300th in the national statistical rankings. The Lancers rank 13th in the country with 16.0 assists per contest.
LEADERS: The Lancers have three guards in the starting lineup, but sophomore center Antwan Carter has come off the bench in all nine games and leads the team in scoring with 16.3 points per contest. He is second on the team in rebounding with 6.4 rebounds per game, and his .532 shooting percentage is tops on the squad. Senior wing Dana Smith has started all nine games and leads the team with 7.2 rebounds per game. His 14.9 points per contest rank second to Carter. Junior guard Aaron Mitchell and senior guard E.J. Dawson have dished out 34 and 30 assists, respectively. Mitchell leads the team with 10 steals.
-- SFA--
