Stephen F. Austin
Lamar
`Jacks Drop Heartbreaker
2/6/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 6, 2010
BEAUMONT, Texas - Stephen F. Austin got two looks at a game-tying 3-pointer on its final possession, but neither fell as Lamar held on for a 49-46 win Saturday in the Montagne Center. The three-point loss snaps SFA's five-game win streak.
SFA falls to 16-6 on the season and 6-3 in Southland play, while Lamar improves to 13-11 overall and 5-4 against league competition.
In a game that went back-and-forth throughout, SFA led from the 7:21 mark until Anthony Miles hit a jumper with 42 seconds left to give Lamar a 47-46 lead. After a missed jumper at the other end, the Lumberjacks fouled Justin Nabors, who hit both free throws with 24 seconds to play, putting Lamar ahead by three to match the Cardinals' biggest lead of the contest.
Walt Harris and Eric Bell each got open looks at a 3-pointer that would have sent the game to overtime. Jordan Glynn rebounded Harris' shot to keep SFA's final possession alive, but Bell's shot with two seconds left was hauled down by Lamar's Kendrick Harris to end the game.
After a lackluster first half, SFA shot 44 percent in the second period and had its largest lead of the night - six points - with 4:33 to play. At that point, Lamar was 0-for-9 from 3-point range. But Donley Minor changed that by hitting threes on back-to-back possessions to cut the margin to two points (44-42) with 3:11 to play. Miles tied the score with a driving jumper on the Cardinals' next possession.
Harris led all players with 18 points on 3-of-6 shooting from 3-point range. Jereal Scott added 14 points on a 7-for-9 effort, but no other Lumberjack scored more than four points.
Nabors scored 12 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to lead Lamar. The Cardinals outrebounded SFA, 37-22, marking the first time in eight games for the `Jacks to lose the battle on the boards.
There were 14 lead changes and 10 tied scores in the contest. The 95 combined points are the fewest in an SFA game since the Lumberjacks' 45-38 win over Southeastern Louisiana last February.
SFA shot 36.7 percent for the game and was 7-of-7 at the foul stripe. Lamar shot 36 percent from the field and connected on 19 of its 26 free throw attempts.
Neither team was efficient in the first half. The 16 points SFA's lowest first-half total of the season, and the Lumberjacks' 29.2-percent effort from the field marked their second-worst shooting performance of the year.
Lamar fared only slightly better, shooting 29.4 percent from the field, but the Cardinals were 0-for-4 from 3-point range. Lamar turned it over eight times in the opening period, helping negate a 20-11 rebounding edge for the Cardinals, who went to the break with a 17-16 lead.
There were 10 lead changes and six ties in the first half, and neither team led by more than two points at any time in the period.
SFA will be back in action Wednesday, when the Lumberjacks host Northwestern State in a 7 p.m. game. The `Jacks will host McNeese State on Saturday, Feb. 13.
-- SFA --
