GAME NOTES: at McNeese State
1/30/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 30, 2010
NACOGDOCHES, Texas -
Complete Release in PDF Format 
VITALS
Stephen F. Austin at McNeese State
Sunday, Jan. 31, 2010 • 3:00 p.m. (CST)
Lake Charles Civic Center • Lake Charles, La.
Radio: KTBQ 107.7-FM • TV: None • Online: None
Lumberjacks
Record: 14-5 (4-2)
Last 5/Streak: 4-1/W1
Coach: Danny Kaspar
Career: 391-161
At SFA: 172-109
SID: Brian Ross
E-mail: rossbrian@sfasu.edu
Web: sfajacks.com
Cowboys
Record: 7-12 (2-3)
Last 5/Streak: 2-3/L1
Coach: Dave Simmons
Career: 73-92
At MCN: 46-63
SID: Louis Bonnette
E-mail: lbonnette@mcneese.edu
Web: mcneesesports.com
GAME INFORMATION
SUNDAY SPECIAL: The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjack basketball team will play its only scheduled Sunday game of the season this weekend when it travels to Lake Charles, La., to take on McNeese State. The Southland Conference East Division-leading Lumberjacks are 14-5 on the year with a 4-2 mark in league action and are coming off their first road win in SLC play. McNeese State is 7-12 overall and 2-3 in conference play.
LAST GAME: SFA shot 49 percent and held Northwestern State without a 3-point field goal Wednesday in the Lumberjacks' 66-56 victory in Natchitoches. Eddie Williams led four SFA players in double figures with 17 points. Jordan Glynn and Jereal Scott added 12 and 11 points, respectively, before fouling out late in the second half. Walt Harris scored 10 points. Scott narrowly missed his second career double-double, as he pulled down nine rebounds, including six on offense to lead an effort that saw SFA outscore the Demons, 12-7, in second-chance points. The 'Jacks finished with a 46-30 advantage in the paint. Will Pratt scored 17 points to match Williams' total, and William Mosley put up 13 points and 19 rebounds for the Demons. Eleven Northwestern State players saw action, but the Demon bench contributed just two points.
THE COWBOYS: McNeese State is part of a three-team jumble just behind the 'Jacks in the Southland East standings. The Cowboys opened league play with back-to-back losses before rallying for a pair of wins, and they are coming off a two-point loss at Nicholls on Wednesday.
vs. MCNEESE STATE: The Lumberjacks are tied at 36-36 in the all-time series with the Cowboys. SFA has won seven of the last 10 meetings with McNeese and four of the last five, but the Cowboys were victorious the last time the teams played in Lake Charles. In the nine previous seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar, the 'Jacks are 9-8 against McNeese. SFA is 2-6 in eight contests in Lake Charles during Kaspar's tenure.
COVERAGE: Sunday's game will be broadcast live on KTBQ 107.7-FM. Rob Meyers has the call. The pregame show will begin 15 minutes prior to tip. Live Stats will be available on McNeeseSports.com.
UP NEXT: SFA will open the month of February with a home game against Nicholls on Feb. 3. That contest is set for a 7 p.m. start from Johnson Coliseum. Following, the 'Jacks will return to the road for a Feb. 6 showdown at Lamar.
NEWS AND NOTES
SPRAINED ARCHES: SFA held Northwestern State to an 0-for-11 performance from 3-point range. That marks the first time this season for the 'Jacks to hold the opposition without a 3-pointer. It's also the second time in two seasons SFA's defense has victimized the Demons in such a manner. The Lumberjacks held Northwestern to an identical 0-for-11 showing on 3-pointers in their meeting in Nacogdoches last season. In all, the Demons are 2-for-36 (.056) from 3-point range in their last three games against the 'Jacks.
BELOW-BOARD: SFA outrebounded Southeastern Louisiana, 36-19. That marks the first time all season for the Lumberjacks to hold an opponent to fewer than 20 rebounds in a game. The 17-rebound margin is the second-largest of the season and the widest margin since outrebounding Huston-Tillotson by 24 in November. Southeastern's 19 boards are the fewest recorded by an SFA foe since SFA outrebounded UTSA, 40-18, in a 60-39 win during the 2007-08 season.
SOUTHLAND STREAKS: There are six programs in the 12-team Southland Conference against whom SFA currently holds a winning streak of at least four straight games. SFA has won four straight against Lamar and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, five straight against Central Arkansas and UTSA, six in a row against Southeastern Louisiana and has recorded 10 consecutive victories against Texas State. The 'Jacks have not lost to Texas State since the 2002-03 season and are 14-2 overall against the Bobcats in Danny Kaspar's tenure.
BOARDED UP: Eddie Williams pulled down 12 rebounds, and Jordan Glynn grabbed 10 in SFA's win over UT Arlington. That marks the first time this season for two Lumberjacks to record double-figure rebounds in a single game. The last time a pair of SFA players accomplished that feat was in the 2008-09 regular-season finale when Josh Alexander and Matt Kingsley each eclipsed the 10-rebound plateau. The 'Jacks had more than one player reach double digits in rebounding on five occasions last season.
STRAIGHT SHOOTING: SFA shot 47.6 percent (20-of-42) in its loss at Nicholls. That marks the first time in more than a season for the 'Jacks to hit at least 45 percent from the field in a losing effort. SFA went 14-0 in such performances last season and had an 8-0 mark in such games heading into the Nicholls match-up. The only other time in the last three seasons a Lumberjack team has shot that well and lost came in the Southland Conference Tournament semifinals in 2008, when SFA shot 50 percent in a defeat against Northwestern State. The 'Jacks went 16-1 that season when shooting better than 45 percent and, in all, are 38-2 in such games over the last three seasons.
BEAR TRAP: SFA took a 64-49 win at home against Central Arkansas. That moved the 'Jacks to 5-0, all-time, against the Bears and 3-0 in home games. In those three games, UCA has never scored more than 50 points, and the Bears have a combined shooting percentage of .257. In all three games, UCA has been held below 20 points in the first half, including a seven-point first half in last year's meeting.
HOME IS WHERE CHAMPIONSHIPS ARE WON: Over the course of their two Southland Conference championship campaigns in the previous two seasons, the Lumberjacks went 15-1 in home conference games, including a perfect 8-0 record last season. This season, the 'Jacks are out to a 3-0 start in home league games. In all, SFA is 60-24 in Southland games at home in 10 years under head coach Danny Kaspar.
STREAK-STOPPER: SFA's loss at Sam Houston State snapped a streak of eight straight wins against Southland Conference foes. Including three victories at the Southland Tournament last March, the 'Jacks had not lost against a league opponent since a 59-56 defeat at McNeese State on Feb. 14. The Bearkats are also the first Southland Conference West Division team to defeat SFA since UT Arlington knocked off the 'Jacks early in last year's conference slate. SFA had won six straight and 10 of its last 11 games against SLC West foes.
TEN WINS: SFA entered Southland Conference play with double figures in the win column this season for just the second time in the program's tenure at the Division I level. The Lumberjacks' only other 10-win pre-conference slate came in 2007-08, when they went 12-2 before opening league play.
ON THE REBOUND: Junior Jordan Glynn pulled down a career-high 21 rebounds against Texas College. This marks the first time since 1995 for a Lumberjack to grab at least 20 boards. That performance was turned in by Javan Rouzan in an 80-75 win over Baylor. Glynn has posted eight double-doubles and 10 double-figure rebounding games.
STEADY EDDIE: A back injury forced junior guard Eddie Williams to miss SFA's game against Texas College. That marked the first time in his three-year career for Williams to miss action. He had played in all 76 games -- including 32 in each of his first two seasons -- coming into the contest against the Steers. He has now played in 82 total games as a Lumberjack.
ALL-TOURNAMENT: After leading SFA in scoring in both its games at the Saint Mary's Shamrock Classic, junior guard Eddie Williams was named to the all-tournament team. This marks the third all-tournament team selection in the last two seasons for Williams. He was chosen to the Drake Hy-Vee Classic squad last season and then earned All-SLC Tournament honors in the postseason.
TOURNAMENT TEAM: Following wins over Howard and Binghamton in the Saint Mary's Shamrock Classic, SFA is 7-1 in four regular-season, tournament-style events over the last two campaigns. The Lumberjacks won two games to capture the Drake Hy-Vee Classic championship last season, then split a pair of contests at the Arkansas Jim Thorpe Classic. Earlier this season, SFA notched wins over Southern and Cal State Fullerton to win the inaugural Etech Lumberjack Classic.
HITTIN' A HUNDRED: The Lumberjacks' 102-point outburst against East Central marks SFA's first triple-digit scoring performance in a regulation game since defeating Paul Quinn, 101-48, in the 2005-06 season. In all, SFA has broken 100 points in regulation six times in 10 seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar. The only Division I opponent to give up triple digits against SFA in that span is Jackson State, who suffered a 103-79 defeat in the 2002-03 campaign. The Lumberjacks' highest-scoring regulation game was a 108-51 win over Oklahoma Panhandle State in the 2003-04 campaign.
BLOCKED UP: Freshman Will Reinke blocked a career-high four shots in SFA's win over East Central. He knocked down three attempts against Texas College. Reinke now has 18 blocks for the season, an average of 0.9 per game, which ranks seventh in the Southland. He has posted six multi-block games this season. Assuming he can maintain his current pace, Reinke will finish the season among the top six on SFA's Division I-era single-season blocks list.
BAD BREAK: The halftime break in SFA's game at Arkansas hurt the Lumberjacks' momentum. SFA went to the locker room with a 33-28 lead but was outscored, 44-36, in the second period of a 72-69 defeat. After shooting 48 percent in the opening half, the 'Jacks slumped to 39 percent after halftime, while the Razorbacks went from 34 percent in first frame to 67 percent following the break. The defeat marks the only time in 12 games this season for SFA to lose a game that it led at the break.
DOUBLING UP: Earlier this season, junior forward Jordan Glynn put together a streak never before seen in Danny Kaspar's 10 seasons as head coach at SFA. Finishing with his 20-point, 13-rebound performance against East Central, Glynn posted five straight double-doubles and six consecutive games with at least 10 rebounds. Prior to this season, no other Lumberjack on a Kaspar-coached team had put together more than two consecutive double-digit rebounding efforts.
TRIPLE THREAT: The Lumberjacks defended the 3-point arc better than any team in the country in 2008-09. SFA led the nation by holding opponents to 26.6 percent from 3-point range last season. Through 19 games in 2009-10, Lumberjack foes are hitting 35.4 percent from behind the arc. That figure stands 236th out of 334 Division I teams in the country, as ranked by the NCAA through games of Jan. 21.
WIN STREAKS: The loss at Arkansas ended SFA's early-season win streak at five games. SFA's longest winning streak last season was eight games, a run that went through the end of the regular season and Southland Conference Tournament before ending in a first-round NCAA Tournament loss against Syracuse.
ROAD-TESTED: SFA finished non-conference play with a 2-2 record in road games with the only losses coming in the season opener against No. 18 Minnesota and at Arkansas. The Lumberjacks defeated Jackson State and Longwood on the road. SFA was 1-4 in road, non-conference games a year ago with the only win coming at Drake. In 10 seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar, the only other time a Lumberjack team has won more than one road non-conference contest in a single season was 2007-08, when the 'Jacks went 5-2 in such games.
FIRST-TIMERS: SFA opened the 2009-10 season with four first-time opponents on the schedule -- Cal State Fullerton, Longwood, Howard and Binghamton. With two wins at the Saint Mary's Shamrock Classic, the 'Jacks finished 4-0 against their first-time foes.
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.
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. Including his 20 points at Sam Houston State, Williams has broken the 20-point barrier four times in his career, twice hitting a career-high 25 points last season. Walt Harris has scored 20 or more twice this year, hitting 20 against Cal State Fullerton and 22 at Arkansas. Junior forward Jordan Glynn scored 20 points against East Central.
HALF FULL: SFA trailed at halftime in both its games against Jackson State, but the 'Jacks came back to win in both contests, as they did in their victory at Longwood. SFA is now 3-4 this year when trailing at the half. The 'Jacks went just 1-4 in such situations all of last season.
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. The 'Jacks are 2-5 this season in games when they trail in the final five minutes. SFA came from behind in the final five minutes just one time in the 2008-09 season.
HIGH PERCENTAGE: SFA shot a season-best .585 from the field in its win over Huston-Tillotson. The .585 shooting percentage is SFA's best since shooting .630 in an 82-67 win at Jackson State during the 2007-08 season. The 'Jacks are 8-1 this season when shooting 45 percent or better, including six wins with a shooting percentage above .500.
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 30-2 in its last 32 home, non-conference match-ups, and the 'Jacks are 53-4, overall, in such games during 10 seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar.
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 10 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.
SAFE AT HOME: In nine-plus seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar, the Lumberjacks have compiled a 110-28 (.797) record in the William R. Johnson Coliseum. SFA is 306-119 (.720) 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 COWBOYS
FOR THE RECORD: McNeese State comes into Sunday's game fourth in the Southland Conference East Division with a 2-3 mark in league action. The Cowboys are 7-12 on the year. McNeese opened the season with three straight losses in the Hawaii Rainbow Classic. The Cowboys then won three of their next four games, with all three wins coming at home. McNeese is 5-1 at home with the only loss being a 78-69 defeat at the hands of UTSA. The Cowboys are coming off a two-point loss at Nicholls but have won two of their last three contests. Sunday's game will be the first of two this season for McNeese in the Lake Charles Civic Center.
LAST GAME: C.J. Collins went 4-for-6 from 3-point range to score a team-high 13 points in a losing effort, as Nicholls took a 63-61 win over McNeese State on Wednesday. The Cowboys used a 9-0 run to erase a six-point Nicholls lead late in the game, but the Colonels, led by Anatoly Bose's 23 points and 11 rebounds, came back to hold on for the win. Collins' effort led McNeese in a 10-for-18 performance from 3-point range, but the Cowboys shot just 31 percent from the foul stripe and were only 4-of-14 at the line in the second half. McNeese led by as many as eight early in the first half, but Nicholls went to halftime with a 35-32 advantage.
KEY NUMBERS: The Cowboys allow 68.9 points per game, the sixth-best scoring defense in the Southland Conference. McNeese's 67.9 points per contest at the other end ranks 10th in the league, just behind SFA. The Cowboys are last in the league at the free throw line, where they shoot 60.3 percent. McNeese also has the fewest foul shot attempts in the conference at 310 through 19 games. The Cowboys are much better from the field (.438), where they rank fifth, and from 3-point range (.367), where they're fourth in the Southland.
LEADERS: Sophomore forward Patrick Richard leads McNeese in scoring at 13.0 points per game. He's trailed closely by senior guard Diego Kapelan, who averages 12.5 points per outing. Kapelan's 3.0 3-pointers per contest are second in the league. Junior forward P.J. Alawoya leads the Cowboys and ranks eighth in the Southland with 7.5 rebounds per game. His 0.8 blocked shots per contest are tied for 10th in the conference. Junior guard C.J. Collins is seventh in the conference with 3.7 assists per game.
-- SFA --
