SFA Hosts Bears On Senior Night
3/3/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 3, 2009
NACOGDOCHES, Texas -
ESSENTIALS
Central Arkansas at SFA
Wednesday, March 4, 2009 • 7:00 p.m.
William R. Johnson Coliseum (7,200) • Nacogdoches, Texas
Radio: None • Television: None • Internet: Yahoo! Sports
GAME INFORMATION
Senior Night: The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjack basketball team will host Central Arkansas Wednesday in the final home game of the season. SFA will honor its five seniors in a brief ceremony prior to tip. The senior class has the opportunity to go out with a bang, as the Lumberjacks can clinch at least a share of the Southland Conference championship with a win on Wednesday. SFA comes into the game as the SLC leader with an 11-3 conference record. The Lumberjacks are 19-7 on the season. Central Arkansas is 9-18 for the year and last in the SLC with a 2-12 league mark.
Last Game: SFA held off a late charge at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Saturday to take a 71-66 win. Josh Alexander scored 21 of his game-high 25 points in the first period to help the Lumberjacks build a big lead early. SFA led by as many as 16 points in the second half, but the Islanders cut the advantage to two (63-61) with two minutes to play. The 'Jacks hit six of their eight free throws down the stretch to hang in for the win. Matt Kingsley scored 17 points and pulled down a team-leading eight rebounds. Girod Adams and Benson Akpan added 13 and 12 points, respectively, marking the first time in 12 games for four Lumberjacks to reach double figures. SFA shot 51 percent in the game, the best team field goal percentage since the 'Jacks hit 55 percent against Lamar on Feb. 7. Kevin Palmer scored 20 points to lead the Islanders.
vs. Central Arkansas: SFA is 3-0 in its short series against the Bears. The Lumberjacks took a 60-54 verdict in Conway in the initial meeting in 2007. SFA defeated the Bears, 57-43, at home last season. In their first meeting this season, the Lumberjacks knocked off Central Arkansas, 72-55, on the road.
The Bears: Central Arkansas enters Wednesday's game trying to avoid the possibility of ending the season on an 11-game losing streak. The Bears have dropped nine straight since knocking off McNeese State, 58-54, on the road on Jan. 24. That win is Central Arkansas' only road victory of the 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 153-103 (.598) at SFA and has a 372-155 (.706) overall record in 18 seasons as a collegiate head coach. Rand Chappell is 94-82 (.534) in his sixth season at Central Arkansas.
Up Next: SFA will finish out the regular season with a game at UTSA on March 7. The game against the Roadrunners is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start.
NEWS AND NOTES
TITLE WATCH: SFA heads into Wednesday's game against Central Arkansas with the lead in the Southland Conference. A win on Wednesday would guarantee the Lumberjacks at least a share of the SLC crown, marking the first time since the 1981-82 and 1982-83 seasons for SFA to win back-to-back conference championships. SFA has 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 six straight Lone Star titles between 1931-32 and 1936-37.
SITTIN' ON TWENTY: In addition to a share of the conference title, a win in Wednesday's game would give the Lumberjacks their second straight 20-win season and the fourth in nine seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar. At 19-7 overall, SFA is the only team in the Southland Conference with single digits in the loss column.
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 has connected on 15 consecutive field goal attempts over the last seven games. In all, Akpan has posted a perfect shooting performance six times this season and is connecting on 63 percent from the field.
ON A TEAR: Senior center Matt Kingsley leads SFA with his 15.9 points per game this season. In Southland Conference play, he ranks third among all SLC players with 17.1 points per contest. But Kingsley has really upped his production in the last six games. During that stretch, the Houston native has broken 20 points four times, including each of the last three contests. He is averaging 19.3 points per game over that span, second only to A&M-Corpus Christi's Kevin Palmer during the same six-game stretch.
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 41 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 without scoring. 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 five 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 10 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 of Southland 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 38 votes. Two 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 25 points at A&M-Corpus Christi, Alexander has broken 20 points 24 times in his four-year career.
THIRTEEN BELOW: In 13 of 14 Southland Conference games to date, SFA has held its opposition below its season average for field goal percentage. Eight of those 14 foes have been squeezed to worse than 40 percent shooting. The 38.1 percent SFA opponents are shooting this season in conference play leads the league. Overall, the Lumberjacks pace the SLC and rank fourth in the nation in field goal percentage defense at 37.8 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 11 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.
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 7.3 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 two opponents to one 3-pointer this season. SFA is first in the SLC and ranks 4th in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage defense at 28.1.
ALL IN: All 15 SFA players touched the floor in SFA's home win over Texas State, marking the third time this season that every Lumberjack in uniform has seen playing time. The first came in SFA's win over Austin Peay with the second coming in the Lumberjacks' victory against Northwestern State.
HISTORY: Senior forward Josh Alexander is already the career leader in points, rebounds and field goals in SFA's Division I era. He also ranks in the top 10 in both scoring and rebounding on the all-time list. With his first bucket against Nicholls State, Alexander went over 1,500 for his career, making him 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 1,642 points and 649 rebounds in four seasons.
BETTER HALF: SFA held Texas College to 11 points in the second half of the Lumberjacks' 83-42 win. This ties for the lowest one-half point total given up to an opponent in nine seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar and is the best second-half point total allowed in that time span. The `Jacks have held opposing teams below 20 points in a single half 35 times under Kaspar and are 33-2 in such contests. SFA held eight opponents under 20 points in a half during the 2007-08 campaign and has done so eight times this season.
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 eighth all-time with 1,410 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.
MIS-FIRE: SFA held Jarvis Christian to 22.4 percent shooting in the Lumberjacks' 69-46 win. That marks the lowest shooting percentage of the season for an SFA opponent.
BLOCK PARTY: The Lumberjacks contributed to Jarvis Christian's poor shooting 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.
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.
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.
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.
SAFE AT HOME: In nine seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar, the Lumberjacks have compiled a 100-27 (.787) record in the William R. Johnson Coliseum. SFA is 296-118 (.715) 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 are 12-0 at home this season, marking the fourth straight season and the sixth time in seven years for SFA to post double-digit wins at home.
LOW POINT: In nine seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar, SFA has held 35 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 matched last year's total with nine opponents limited to fewer than 50 points. Six of the top nine performances for points allowed have been recorded this season.
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.
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.
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.
SCOUTING THE BEARS
FOR THE RECORD: Central Arkansas comes into Wednesday's game with a 9-18 overall record and a 2-12 mark in Southland Conference play. The Bears' only wins in league play this season are a 77-72 home verdict against Texas State and a 58-54 road win over McNeese State. That win against the Cowboys brought Central Arkansas' record to 2-3 in league play, but the Bears have since dropped nine straight games. Three of UCA's losses in that stretch were by two points.
LAST GAME: Southeastern Louisiana shot 68 percent from the floor and set a school record for scoring in a Southland Conference game in Saturday's 98-61 win over Central Arkansas. The Bears connected on just 32 percent of their shots, including a 27-percent effort from 3-point range, and had only one starter finish in double figures. Mitch Rueter scored 10 points, and Landrell Brewer came off the bench for a team-high 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting. Five Lions reached double digits, led by 26 points from Damon Forest. Forest was 8-of-9 from the field and 6-for-7 from 3-point range, leading an effort that saw Southeastern connect on 52.6 percent from downtown. The Lions led by as many as 40 points.
LAST MEETING: SFA held Central Arkansas to just nine second-half field goals to take what was a close game early and turn it into a 72-55 rout on Jan. 14 in Conway. Senior center Matt Kingsley led a quartet of Lumberjacks in double figures scoring with 16 points. He also pulled down 11 rebounds, marking the first of what would be two consecutive double-doubles, the first time in his career, to that point, for Kingsley to put up doubles in back-to-back games. Nick Shaw added 14 points and eight rebounds, Josh Alexander scored 13 points, and Girod Adams chipped in with 12. SFA held the Bears to 9.1 percent from 3-point range and allowed just one 3-pointer all night. Mitch Rueter scored 13 points to lead Central Arkansas.
KEY NUMBERS: The Bears rank 11th in the Southland Conference in scoring (63.9 ppg), scoring margin (- 5.7) and field goal percentage (.405). The Bears rank last in the league in rebounding margin (- 2.8), assists (11.1 apg) and steals (5.5 spg). Central Arkansas ranks sixth in the conference in 3-point field goal percentage (.328), the only category in which the Bears are in the top half of the SLC.
LEADERS: Junior guard Marcus Pillow leads the Bears and ranks 18th in the Southland Conference with 12.2 points per game. Junior guard Brooks Taylor's 12.0 points per game rank 22nd in the league. Senior center Brian Marks ranks second in the SLC in rebounding with 8.7 boards per game, but is the only Bear inside the league's top 25. Pillow's 2.4 3-pointers per game rank fifth in the Southland. He stands fourth in the league in minutes played at 32.1 minutes per contest.
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-- SFA --
