Stephen F. Austin
Texas State
`Jacks Top Texas State With Big Second Half
2/24/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 24, 2010
SAN MARCOS, Texas - Stephen F. Austin shot 60 percent in the second period to erase a five-point halftime deficit and take a 77-70 win at Texas State Wednesday night in Strahan Coliseum. The Lumberjacks had one of their most balanced scoring nights of the year as five different players hit double figures, led by 20 points from junior Eddie Williams.
The win improves SFA to 19-7 on the year and 9-4 in Southland Conference play with a two-game lead in the SLC East Division. The Bobcats fall to 12-15 on the season and 6-7 in Southland play.
Sophomore Jereal Scott, senior Walt Harris and juniors Orren Tims and Denzel Barnes joined Williams in double digits, giving SFA five players with 10-plus points for just the third time this season. Scott went 9-for-10 at the foul stripe to finish with 17 points and pulled down a team-high nine rebounds.
SFA finished the first half with a flourish to cut a 10-point lead - Texas State's largest of the game - in half by the break. The Bobcats led, 33-23, with less than 20 seconds to play. But Barnes nailed a pair of free throws with 16 seconds left, then the Bobcats' Ryan White turned the ball over on an offensive foul with four seconds to play. Barnes canned a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from just over the halfcourt stripe to send his team to the locker room with a 33-28 deficit.
The Lumberjacks shot just 32 percent in the first half and committed 10 turnovers before the break. But SFA came out strong in the second period, connecting on its first three shots from the floor, including a pair of 3-pointers by Harris. His second gave SFA its first lead since the game's opening minutes, and the Lumberjacks took the lead for good on a jumper by Tims with 16:21 to play.
Harris finished with 14 points on 2-of-3 shooting from 3-point range, and Tims had 11 points on a 5-for-8 effort. Barnes, who played most of the second half in place of injured point guard Eric Bell, finished with 10 points. He dished out three assists without committing a turnover. Williams pulled down six rebounds to go with his 20 points.
Cameron Johnson scored 18 points and 12 rebounds to lead Texas State. Uriel Segura scored 16, and Emmanuel Bidias A' Moute added 15.
Despite committing 16 turnovers to just 12 for the Bobcats, SFA finished with a 21-12 advantage in points off turnovers. The `Jacks were outrebounded for just the sixth time this season, as Texas State finished with a 38-35 advantage on the boards and outscored SFA, 16-11, in second-chance points.
The Lumberjacks will be back in action Saturday, when they host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the SLC-TV Toyota Game of the Week. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. from William R. Johnson Coliseum.
-- SFA --
