Stephen F. Austin
Texas State
SFA Smothers Bobcats
2/25/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 25, 2009
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Stephen F. Austin got a strong performance from three of its top four scorers and held Texas State to a season-low Wednesday in the Lumberjacks' 68-52 win in the William R. Johnson Coliseum.
Seniors Matt Kingsley, Josh Alexander and Nick Shaw combined to score 49 of the Lumberjacks' 68 points. Kingsley put up 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting for his third straight 20-point effort and fourth in five games. Alexander and Shaw, who combined for one point in SFA's low-scoring 45-38 win over Southeastern Louisiana last Saturday, poured in 15 and 11 points, respectively, on Wednesday. Shaw added 10 rebounds for his second career double-double.
The Bobcats came into the game as the Southland Conference's top scoring team, averaging 82.3 points per contest. But SFA held Texas State to just 21 first-half points and went on to limit the Bobcats to fewer than 60 points for just the second time this season. The 52 points Texas State scored Wednesday are the second-fewest put up by the Bobcats in three seasons under head coach Doug Davalos and mark the team's lowest scoring output since SLC foe Texas A&M-Corpus Christi held them to 42 points in the 2006-07 campaign.
Wednesday, Texas State missed its first shot of the game then connected on five straight over the next four minutes, the fifth a John Rybak 3-pointer that gave the Bobcats a 12-7 lead, their largest of the night.
But on the ensuing SFA possession, Shaw rebounded a miss to keep the touch alive, and Alexander connected on his first 3-pointer in more than a game-and-a-half to cut the advantage to two.
The Bobcats missed threes on their next three possessions. Texas State got the offensive board on the third miss, but sophomore Eddie Williams came up with a steal and knocked down a jumper in the paint at the other end to tie the score at 12.
Senior center Benson Akpan took a feed from junior Girod Adams for a layup on the next possession, and SFA had the lead for good. The Bobcats missed their next six shots, while SFA went 6-for-6 from the field to complete a 21-0 run that gave the `Jacks a 28-12 advantage with 8:11 to play.
Texas State was 0-for-9 on the run, which included four points each from Williams and Akpan, an alley-oop dunk in transition from Alexander to Shaw and two more threes by Alexander. Kingsley knocked down a jumper at the 8:11 mark to punctuate the run.
The Lumberjacks went on to lead by as many as 22 in the half and took a 40-21 lead to the locker room. The Bobcats upped their shooting percentage from 37.5 percent in the first half to 45.8 in the second period and outscored SFA, 31-28, for the half, but couldn't overcome their early deficit.
Texas State committed 24 turnovers, five off a season-high for SFA opponents, and the Lumberjacks outscored the Bobcats, 20-11, in points off turnovers. Led by Kingsley and Akpan down low, SFA finished with a 36-26 scoring advantage in the paint, and the `Jacks owned a 9-3 edge in second-chance points, despite Texas State's 32-29 advantage on the boards.
Shaw's 10 rebounds led all players and marked the third time in four games for him to record double figures on the boards. He pulled down a career-high 19 in Saturday's game.
Williams and Akpan were both 3-for-3 off the bench for six points apiece. Williams added two assists and a steal. Adams finished with three points, and Zach Williams and Jarrod McDaniel each added two. Junior point guard Eric Bell tallied a game-high five assists.
Brandon Bush scored 22 points to lead Texas State (12-14, 5-8 SLC).
Every SFA player who suited up took the floor, marking just the third time this season that's happened.
The victory keeps SFA (18-7) ahead of the pack in the SLC East Division with a 10-3 conference record. Saturday's opponent, A&M-Corpus, fell at Southeastern Louisiana Wednesday, taking what had been a three-team tie for top spot in the SLC and making it a two-team grid-lock between the `Jacks and rival Sam Houston State. The Bearkats knocked off McNeese State Wednesday to keep pace with SFA.
Saturday's game against A&M-Corpus is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start from the American Bank Center.
-- SFA --
