SFA Set To Open SLC Tourney
3/11/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 11, 2009
KATY, Texas -
ESSENTIALS
SFA vs. Southeastern Louisiana
Thursday, March 12, 2009 • 6:00 p.m.
Merrell Center (5,600) • Katy, Texas
Radio: Q107.7-FM • Television: None • Internet: SLC Now
GAME INFORMATION
Tourney Time: The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjack basketball team will begin play in the 2009 State Farm Southland Conference Tournament Thursday with a first-round game against No. 8 Southeastern Louisiana. The Lumberjacks go into the tournament as the league's No. 1 seed after securing a second straight SLC regular-season title. SFA is 21-7 on the season with a 13-3 finish in league play. The Lions bring a 13-16 overall mark and a 7-9 conference record to the tournament.
Last Game: Josh Alexander hit six straight free throws in the final 11 seconds to seal a 66-62 win at UTSA in Saturday's regular-season finale. The verdict locked up the SLC title for SFA and guaranteed the Lumberjacks a No. 1 seed in this week's league tournament. Alexander finished with a game-high 21 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to post his third double-double of the season. Matt Kingsley, the 2009 SLC Player of the Year, poured in 19 points and pulled down a career-best 14 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season. UTSA held an 18-2 advantage in made foul shots before the Roadrunners were forced to foul Alexander three times in the game's closing seconds. Travis Gabbidon scored 16 points with 12 rebounds to lead UTSA. After coughing up 13 turnovers in the first period, SFA gave the ball up just once in the second half, and the Lumberjacks finished with a 38-33 edge in rebounding. SFA shot 42.4 percent for the game, while holding the Roadrunners to 39.6 percent from the field.
vs. Southeastern Louisiana: SFA is 22-12 all-time against the Lions. The Lumberjacks have compiled a 10-5 record against Southeastern in nine years under head coach Danny Kaspar SFA has won seven of the last 11 meetings, including four straight, and is 4-1 in the last five showdowns.
The Lions: Southeastern Louisiana is one of the hottest teams in the conference, coming into the SLC Tournament. The Lions won four straight to close out the season and secure their place in the tourney. While averaging 71.4 points per game for the season -- and just 43.5 in two games against SFA -- Southeastern averaged 79.5 points per contest over the final four games of the regular season.
The Coaches: SFA is led by head coach Danny Kaspar. Kaspar is in his ninth season at the helm for the Lumberjacks. He holds a record of 155-103 (.601) at SFA and has a 374-155 (.707) overall record in 18 seasons as a collegiate head coach. Jim Yarbrough is 62-55 (.530) in four seasons with the Lions.
Up Next: The winner of Thursday's game will advance to the tournament semifinals to take on the winner of the late game between No. 4 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and No. 5 UT-Arlington. Friday's game is set for an 8:30 p.m. start.
NEWS AND NOTES
DYNAMIC DUO: Seniors Josh Alexander and Matt Kingsley are SFA's career leaders in scoring, rebounding and field goals at the Division I level (since 1986-87 season). Alexander is No. 1 in points (1,671) and rebounds (663) and ranks second in field goals (534). Kingsley is No. 2 in scoring (1,441) and rebounds (602), while ranking first in field goals (536). At last report, no other program in the country can claim two players who have spent their entire careers together and rank Nos. 1 and 2 in any of those categories, let alone all three.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Matt Kingsley was named the 2009 SLC Player of the Year after leading SFA to a second straight Southland Conference regular-season championship. Kingsley's honor comes on the heels of classmate Josh Alexander being named the league MVP a year ago. This marks the first time since the 1992 season for two players from the same team to earn SLC Player of the Year honors in consecutive years.
CHAMPIONS: With SFA's 66-62 win at UTSA in the regular-season finale, the Lumberjacks locked up the program's first ever undisputed Southland Conference championship. SFA shared the league title with Lamar a year ago but finished the 2008-09 season alone atop the Southland standings. This marks the first time since the 1981-82 and 1982-83 seasons for SFA to win back-to-back conference titles. Prior to this season, SFA had won back-to-back conference titles eight times in program history with all eight coming in Lone Star Conference play and none of the eight having occurred during the Lumberjacks' NCAA Division I era, which began in 1986-87. SFA won a program-record six straight Lone Star titles between 1931-32 and 1936- 37.
HALF THE BATTLE: SFA overcame a five-point halftime deficit (26-21) to take a 66-62 win at UTSA in the regular-season finale. This marks the first time this season for the Lumberjacks to win after trailing at the half. SFA is 1-3 when behind at halftime and is 1-2 when tied at the break.
ALL-DISTRICT: Senior center Matt Kingsley was recently announced as a first-team selection to the National Association of Basketball Coaches All-District 23 team. Kingsley is the first Lumberjack to be named to the team since Antonio Burks earned a second-team nod in 2004 and is the only player in head coach Danny Kaspar's tenure to earn a spot on the first team.
ON THE REBOUND: Senior Matt Kingsley pulled down a career-high 14 boards in SFA's win at UTSA. That game put his career total over the 600-board mark at 602. Kingsley becomes just the 11th player in school history to pull down at least 600 rebounds, joining classmate Josh Alexander (663).
LOW POINT: In nine seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar, SFA has held 36 opponents to 50 points or fewer. SFA held the competition below that level nine times in 2007-08. The previous best under Kaspar was four games in a single season with fewer than 50 points. So far this season, the Lumberjacks have limited 10 opponents to fewer than 50 points, including three totals below forty points. Seven of the top 10 performances for points allowed have been recorded this season.
GOOD START: SFA opened on a 10-0 run and held a 33-7 halftime lead over Central Arkansas in the Lumberjacks' 61-39 win. The seven points are the second-fewest allowed in a first half this season, just missing the mark of six set by Ohio State in a win over Samford in November. The NCAA record for fewest points in a half is four, recorded by Savannah State in a game against Kansas State last season. Central Arkansas shot just 14.3 percent (3-for-21) in the first period, by far the lowest first-half shooting percentage by an SFA opponent this season.
BETTER HALF: SFA held Central Arkansas to seven points in the first half of the Lumberjacks' 61-39 win. This marks the lowest one-half point total given up to an opponent in nine seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar. The `Jacks have held opposing teams below 20 points in a single half 36 times under Kaspar and are 34-2 in such contests. SFA held eight opponents under 20 points in a half during the 2007-08 campaign and has done so nine times this season.
MIS-FIRE: SFA held Central Arkansas to 22.4 percent shooting in the Lumberjacks' 61-39 win. That ties the season-low percentage Jarvis Christian shot against the 'Jacks earlier this season.
SITTIN' ON TWENTY: In addition to a guaranteed piece of the SLC title, SFA's win over Central Arkansas gave the Lumberjacks their second straight 20-win season and the fourth in nine seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar. At 21-7 overall, SFA is the only team in the Southland Conference with single digits in the loss column.
SAFE AT HOME: In nine seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar, the Lumberjacks have compiled a 101-27 (.789) record in the William R. Johnson Coliseum. SFA is 297-118 (.716) all-time in the Coliseum. SFA defeated Howard Payne, 77-38, in the season opener. Kaspar's teams are 9-0 in home openers at SFA. The Lumberjacks finished the 2009 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.
BANK ON IT: Josh Alexander scored a season-high 25 points at A&M-Corpus Christi. In three games at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Alexander has averaged 23 points, breaking 20 on two occasions.
AKPAN'S ACCURACY: Including his 5-for-5 performance at A&M-Corpus Christi, senior Benson Akpan connected on 15 consecutive field goal attempts over a recent seven-game stretch, before going 2-for-6 from the field against Central Arkansas. In all, Akpan has posted a perfect shooting performance six times this season and is connecting on 61.2 percent from the field.
BOARDED UP: Nick Shaw pulled down 19 rebounds in SFA's 45-38 win over Southeastern Louisiana. The 19 rebounds are a career-high for Shaw and mark the highest single-game total in the Southland Conference this season. There have been just 46 single-game performances in the nation this season of 19 or more rebounds. Shaw is the only player in the country to have grabbed more than 18 boards in a sinle game without scoring a point. Including the 16 boards he recorded against Louisiana-Monroe last season, Shaw has now recorded the top two single-game marks for rebounds in nine seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar. The next-best total is the 15 posted by Ransom White against McNeese State during the 2000-01 season, Kaspar's first with SFA. Shaw has pulled down double-figure rebounds in three of the last six games.
DOUBLING UP: Coming into SFA's game with Nicholls State on Jan. 17, Matt Kingsley had posted seven career double-doubles, but had never recorded double-doubles in consecutive games. He rectified that with 18 points and 11 rebounds against the Colonels to follow a 16-point, 11-rebound outing at Central Arkansas the game before. Three weeks later, Kingsley repeated the back-to-back double-double feat with 12 points and 11 boards against McNeese State, followed by 17 points and 11 rebounds in the rematch with Nicholls State. Kingsley recorded 21 points and 10 rebounds against Southeastern Louisiana and has now posted 11 career double-double performances.
ON TARGET: McNeese State shot 56.4 percent from the field in the Cowboys' 59-56 win over SFA. That marks the best shooting percentage by a Lumberjack opponent this season and the first time in Southland Conference play for an opponent to shoot better than its season average against the 'Jacks. The last time an SFA opponent shot better than 56 percent came in the 2006-07 season, when Texas A&M-Corpus Christi hit 59.5 percent in a 70-62 win over the Lumberjacks. SFA had gone 63 straight games without allowing a foe to shoot better than 56 percent.
SHOOTING STRUGGLES: While the Cowboys were filling up the bucket at their end of the floor, SFA stumbled to a 38.2-percent effort at the other end. The Lumberjack have shot worse than 40 percent nine times this season and won only three times in those contests -- their 45-38 verdict against Southeastern Louisiana (38.3 percent), their 59-51 win at Northwestern State (35.7 percent) and their 43-41 home win over McNeese (30.2 percent).
HIGH-LOW: December's 112-111 triple-overtime win against North Dakota State marked the most combined points (223) in a Lumberjack game in nine seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar. Since the beginning ofSouthland Conference play, SFA has played in the two lowest-scoring games of Kaspar's tenure. In January, the Lumberjacks took a 43-41 win over McNeese State (84 combined points). In February, the Lumberjacks knocked off Southeastern Louisiana, 45-38 (83 combined points). SFA has played in 15 games over the last nine seasons that had a combined point total of fewer than 100 points. The 83 points against Southeastern are the lowest combined total since SFA took a 44-33 win at Abilene Christian in the 1981-82 season. The Lumberjack head coach in that game was Harry Miller, one of Kaspar's mentors in the coaching world.
RANK AND FILE: SFA finished three spots outside the most recent CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll with 30 votes. Three weeks ago, the 'Jacks fell out of the poll for the first time in over a year. SFA spent 25 consecutive weeks in the poll after breaking in during December of the 2007-08 season. SFA began this season at No. 11, the first time in the poll's 10-year history for SFA to enter the season as a ranked team and the highest entry to the poll for a Lumberjack team to date. In December, SFA was ranked No. 10, marking the earliest move into the top 10 for the `Jakcs since the poll began. SFA spent a program-best 15 consecutive weeks ranked in last year's Mid-Major Top 25. The `Jacks climbed as high as No. 6, including a first-place vote, on Feb. 25 of last season, and finished the season ranked 14th.
TRIPLE-DOUBLE: For the first time in nine seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar, three Lumberjacks pulled down double-figure rebounds. Matt Kingsley, Josh Alexander and Nick Shaw grabbed 10 boards apiece in SFA's 59-51 win at Northwestern State, as the Lumberjacks out-rebounded the Demons, 39-37.
TWENTY-SOMETHING: Josh Alexander scored a game-high 21 points at Northwestern State. He came into the game having averaged 6.5 points per game in the four previous contests. That included a string of three straight games without reaching double digits in scoring, matching the longest such run of his career. Alexander's last 20-point effort had come Dec. 12, when he dropped a season-high 24 against North Dakota State in a triple-overtime win. The 14 games between that performance and his 21-point effort at Northwestern State were one game short of tying for the longest such streak of his career, when he went 15 games between 20-point outings as a sophomore. Including his season-high 25 points at A&M-Corpus Christi and 21 points at UTSA, Alexander has broken 20 points 25 times in his four-year career.
FIFTEEN BELOW: In 15 of 16 Southland Conference games to date, SFA has held its opposition below its season average for field goal percentage. Ten of those 16 foes have been squeezed to worse than 40 percent shooting. The 37.1 percent SFA opponents are shooting this season in conference play leads the league. Overall, the Lumberjacks pace the SLC and rank third in the nation in field goal percentage defense at 37.2 percent.
CUTTIN' IT CLOSE: SFA's 43-41 win over McNeese State was the fifth game this season with a final margin of two points or fewer. Only 12 of the Lumberjacks' games this year have been decided by fewer than 10 points. SFA is 4-1 this season in games decided by two points or fewer. Last season, only two games had margins of two points or fewer, and SFA lost both contests.
THREE OF A KIND BEATS A FULL HOUSE?: The Lumberjacks' top three individual scorers -- Matt Kingsley, 25; Benson Akpan, 12; Eddie Williams, 11 -- in SFA's 73-45 win over Northwestern State combined to outscore the Demons, 48-45, on their own. This marks the sixth time this season and the second time in SLC play that SFA's top three scorers tied or beat the opponent's final score.
HIGHS IN THE SINGLE DIGITS: SFA held Northwestern State without a double-digit scorer in the Lumberjacks' 73-45 win, marking the second time this season SFA has posted such a performance. The `Jacks also held Jarvis Christian without a double-figure scorer. SFA has held the opposition to fewer than two double-figure scorers on eight occasions this season, winning all eight times.
ON THE DOWN-LOW: SFA scored a season-high 52 points in the paint against Northwestern State. The Lumberjacks are 14-1 when they score at least 28 points in the paint. SFA is outscoring the opposition down low by an average of 6.9 points per game.
SPRAINED ARCHES: SFA held Northwestern State to an 0-for-11 showing from 3-point range in their first meeting this year. That marks the first time this season for the `Jacks to hold the opposition without a 3-point field goal. The last time an SFA foe came up empty from 3-point range was the 0-for-4 performance by San Diego last season. The `Jacks have limited three opponents to one 3-pointer this season. SFA leads the nation in 3-point field goal percentage defense, holding the opposition to 26.9 percent from downtown.
ALL IN: All 15 SFA players touched the floor in SFA's home win over Central Arkansas, marking the fourth time this season that every Lumberjack in uniform has seen playing time.
HISTORY: Senior forward Josh Alexander is the first player in SFA's Division I era and just the sixth Lumberjack all-time to record 1,500 points and 500 rebounds. Alexander has accumulated 1,671 points and 663 rebounds in four seasons.
MOVIN' ON UP: In a five-game stretch earlier this season, senior center Matt Kingsley jumped five slots on the list of career scoring leaders at SFA. He was 20th all-time heading into the Drake Hy-Vee Classic but came away from the Arkansas Jim Thorpe Classic 16th and moved into a tie for 15th with 1,151 career points following SFA's game at Texas Tech. Kingsley currently ranks seventh all-time with 1,441 career points.
BENCHED: The SFA bench outscored the Nicholls State reserves, 11- 0, in the Lumberjacks' 55-40 home win. The Colonels' top two scorers combined for 29 points with the other three starters accounting for 11 points, but none of the four substitutes who touched the floor found the scoring column. This marks the only time this season for SFA to hold the opposition's bench scoreless.
QUADRUPLE-DOUBLE: Four different Lumberjacks reached double figures in scoring in SFA's win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. That marked the eighth time this season for the Lumberjacks to accomplish that feat. SFA is 14-2 in games when at least three Lumberjacks reach double digits in scoring.
WIDE-OPENER: SFA's 75-73 win over Sam Houston State in the Southland Conference opener marked the highest combined point total of the season for a game that ended in regulation. The 73 points allowed are the most given up by SFA outside of its 112-111 triple-overtime win against North Dakota State. The game also marked the just the second time this season for the Lumberjacks to give up 60 or more points in regulation and win. SFA is now 3-4 in such situations this year.
WELL, FOR STARTERS...: Four SFA starters reached double digits in scoring, and the starting lineup accounted for all but six points in the Lumberjacks' 75-73 win over Sam Houston State. Josh Alexander played all 40 minutes -- the second time this season he's played every minute of a game -- and Nick Shaw and Eddie Williams each logged 39 minutes. The only subs to take the floor in the contest were Girod Adams, Walt Harris and Benson Akpan.
BLOCK PARTY: The Lumberjacks contributed to Jarvis Christian's season-low 22.4-percent effort by blocking a season-high 10 shots. This marks the first time in nine seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar for an SFA team to record double-digit blocked shots. Matt Kingsley posted a career-high five blocked shots, and Benson Akpan tied a season-best with three blocks in the game.
SCORE!: The 93 points SFA put up in its 93-54 win over Austin Peay are the most scored in regulation by a Lumberjack team this season and the most points in regulation against a Division I opponent since SFA beat Centenary College, 94-57, in the 2005-06 campaign.
SCORING SPREE: The 223 combined points SFA and NDSU scored is the highest combined total in an SFA game since the Lumberjacks' 123- 103 loss to San Francisco in the 1994-95 season.
HIGH POINT: The 111 points scored by North Dakota State are the most given up by a Lumberjack team in nine seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar. The previous best for an opponent during the Kaspar era was the 92 scored by Arizona State in the season opener of the 2001-02 season, Kaspar's second at SFA. The 78 points the Bison scored in regulation are the most allowed by SFA in a regular-season game since the Lumberjacks beat Northern Illinois, 86-78, in 2006-07.
WORKING OVERTIME: SFA's triple-overtime win against North Dakota State is the longest game in SFA's 23 years as a Division I program and the longest contest played by an SFA team since the Lumberjacks took a quadruple-overtime win against Southwestern, 101-99, in 1983. SFA is now 28-33, all-time, in overtime games. The Lumberjacks are 6-4 in their last 10 overtime contests.
NO SHOT: The Lumberjacks dominated Texas College in the second half of their 83-42 victory. The Steers were just 2-for-22 from the field -- both 3-pointers -- in the final 20 minutes for a second-half shooting percentage of .091. That's the lowest single-half average of the season, and it left Texas College with a .308 shooting percentage for the game, the third time in four contests an SFA opponent had shot worse than 35 percent.
REMEMBERING A LUMBERJACK LEGEND: In memory of Marshall Brown, who passed away over the summer, the Lumberjacks will wear a black band on the left shoulder of their game jerseys during the 2008-09 season. Brown coached men's basketball at SFA from 1959-1978 and is the school's all-time winningest coach with 345 career victories.
SCOUTING THE LIONS
FOR THE RECORD: Southeastern enters tournament play with a 13-16 overall record. The Lions finished eighth in the Southland with a 7-9 league mark. Southeastern won four straight games to end the regular season and earn its tournament berth. The Lions had preceded that run by dropping six straight games and seven of eight. The skid was bookended by losses to SFA. The Lumberjacks took a 60-49 win in Hammond and held on for a 45-38 verdict in Nacogdoches on Feb. 21. That game stands as the lowest combined point total in an SFA game in nine seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar. But Southeastern rallied, averaging 79.5 points over its final four games to clinch a spot in the tournament.
LAST GAME: Southeastern Louisiana shot twice as many free throws as Northwestern State to overcome a 53-percent second-half shooting effort by the Demons in a 79-69 win Saturday in the season finale. The Lions were 18-of-30 at the foul stripe and connected on 5-of-9 3-pointers in the second period to hold off Northwestern. Brandon Fortenberry scored 20 points to lead Southeastern, and Warrell Span and Patrick Sullivan each posted double-doubles. Span scored 16 points and pulled down 15 rebounds, and Sullivan finished with 12 points and 14 boards. As a team, the Lions finished with a 54-36 edge in rebounding. Damon Jones scored 19 points to lead the Demons but was the only Northwestern player to reach double figures.
LAST MEETING: Matt Kingsley scored 21 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to lead SFA to a 45-38 win over Southeastern on Feb. 21. The 83 combined points set a new record for the lowest score in an SFA contest in nine seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar. The Lions' 38 points marked a season-low, eclipsing the previous low of 49, also set against SFA. Southeastern shot just 29 percent from the field. SFA's Nick Shaw pulled down 19 rebounds, setting a new career high and eclipsing his own record for single-game rebounds in the Danny Kaspar era. Warrell Span and Brandon Fortenberry scored 11 points each to lead the Lions.
KEY NUMBERS: Southeastern ranks third in the Southland Conference in both field goal percentage (.470) and field goal percentage defense (.411). The Lions drop to 11th in 3-point field goal defense, allowing opponents to shoot .353 from downtown. Southeastern gives up the second-fewest rebounds in the league at 34 per game. The Lions rank eighth in turnover margin at minus-0.3.
LEADERS: Junior Patrick Sullivan leads the Lions and ranks 20th in the Southland with 12.1 points per game. His 7.1 rebounds per contest stand seventh in the league. Sullivan's .581 shooting percentage is third in the SLC, and he ranks fourth in the conference in blocked shots with 2.2 rejections per game. Senior forward Warrell Span is ninth in rebounding with 6.7 boards per game. Freshman guard Brandon Fortenberry ranks fifth in the league with 4.0 assists per game.
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