Stephen F. Austin
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UTEP
Defense Dominates As 'Jacks Blast Miners
11/26/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 26, 2011
EL PASO, Texas - Jereal Scott and Antonio Bostic each carried the Lumberjacks for a half apiece, and the SFA defense held UT-El Paso to just 31 percent from the field as the `Jacks avoided their first three-game non-conference losing streak since 2004-05 with a convincing 53-35 win at the Don Haskins Center Saturday night.
The `Jacks (2-2) picked up their first win over a Conference USA opponent since a 61-58 win at SMU during the 2007-08 season, while earning their first win over the Miners (1-3) in three all-time tries.
Scott finished with 17 points for the night was nearly unstoppable in the opening period, canning his first five shots from the field and eight of 11 for the half on his way to 16 points at the break. His play helped lead SFA to 18 points in the paint in the half, which opened up the perimeter in the second half for Bostic who hit five of six shots in the final 20 minutes to add 14 points to his game-high 18 for the night.
The 35 points for the Miners was the lowest opponent point total for the `Jacks since holding Huston-Tillotson to just 33 points in the 2007-08 season, and is the lowest opponent point total for the `Jacks versus a Division I team since SFA became Division I itself going into the 1986-87 season.
It was the fourth straight game for Bostic to reach double-figures, but he added on with six rebounds and by tying a career high with five assists. Point guard Darius Gardner had five assists without a turnover, and Taylor Smith came off the bench to add five points and five rebounds in just 11 minutes.
In all, SFA outrebounded the Miners 35-23 and hauled in a dozen offensive boards. That edge on the glass led to a 30-14 advantage in points in the paint
The `Jacks led by as much as 20 in the ball game late in the second half, but trailed only at the 4-2 point of the ballgame, going up by double digits for the first time with 7:51 in the game on a jumper from Bostic as part of an 8-1 Lumberjack run. SFA did not let up on its way into the break, scoring six of the final 10 points of the half to take a comfortable 28-17 lead into the locker room.
The 11-point lead quickly grew to 15 after Bostic came out on fire in the second half, hitting a pair of jump shots in the first three minutes of the half to help spark a 9-3 run that included points from Gardner and Scott.
UTEP used a trio of threes in the second half to stay within arm's length of the `Jacks, but went without a field goal for more than five minutes in the middle of the half to allow SFA to push its lead to as much as 20 on a rebound putback at the basket from Smith with just over seven minutes to play.
From there the `Jacks were able to milk the clock and allowed just four Miner points in the final 7:14 of the game to coast to the win.
The `Jacks will look to go to 3-2 on Wednesday when they host Wiley College at William R. Johnson Coliseum in a 7:00 p.m. matchup.
-SFA-
