Stephen F. Austin
Nicholls
'Jacks Fall Short at Nicholls
1/16/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 16, 2010
THIBODAUX, La. - Nicholls shot 51 percent and forced 17 Stephen F. Austin turnovers to collect a 70-63 win over the Lumberjacks Saturday in Stopher Gymnasium. SFA has now lost four straight road games against the Colonels and hasn't won in Thibodaux since the 2004-05 season.
With the loss, SFA moves to 11-5 on the year and 1-2 in Southland Conference play. Nicholls improves to 6-10 overall and 2-1 in league action.
After going scoreless and failing to even take a shot attempt in the first half, Nicholls' leading scorer Anatoly Bose poured in 19 second-half points to lead the Colonels. Bose was 10-for-10 at the foul stripe, and Nicholls finished 26-for-34 at the line.
SFA couldn't match that production at the other end and compounded its troubles with 17 turnovers. Leading scorer Eddie Williams had five points at halftime but was held scoreless in the second half until putting back an offensive rebound in the final minutes. Williams finished with seven points.
Sophomore Jereal Scott scored a team-high 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting. After SFA went to the locker room with an eight-point deficit, Scott scored the Lumberjacks' first 10 points of the second period, nearly single-handedly bringing SFA back to tie the score at 30.
But the Colonels countered and pushed their lead to as many as 15 points with five minutes to play. SFA flirted with cutting the margin to single digits down the stretch but didn't get inside 10 points until the final moments, thanks to some late 3-pointers. SFA's 73-percent effort from 3-point range is a season-best, but four of the long-range buckets came in the final two minutes, when the game was all but decided.
The 'Jacks finished 8-for-11 on threes, led by Walt Harris' career-high 4-for-6 effort. Harris finished with 16 points. Denzel Barnes came off the bench for 13 points and was 3-of-3 from behind the arc.
Fred Hunter and Chris Iles joined Bose in double digits with 15 and 11 points, respectively.
Orren Tims finished with six for the 'Jacks, Eric Bell added two with five assists, and Jordan Glynn scored a season-low one point.
SFA shot 47.6 percent for the game and outrebounded Nicholls, 25-24. The 'Jacks outscored the Colonels, 24-22, in the paint, but the Colonels finished with a 21-16 advantage in points off turnovers.
SFA will host a pair of games next week. The `Jacks take on UT Arlington Wednesday at 7 p.m., then play Southeastern Louisiana Saturday in a 6 p.m. tip.
