Moment #3: SFA Achieves SLC Perfection
8/12/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
It was another successful athletic season for Stephen F. Austin in 2013-14, capped by memorable games, incredible performances, championship efforts and moments that will be remembered for years to come. To close out the 2013-14 season, SFAJacks.com will count down the top 15 moments of the past year as voted on by the SFA administrative staff and media representatives. A new moment will be revealed each Tuesday and Friday, counting down to the top moment of the year on Tuesday, August 19th.
MOMENT #3: Men's Basketball Achieves Southland Conference Perfection
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The 2013-14 Stephen F. Austin men's basketball team became the nation's Cinderella story with the upset of fifth-seeded VCU in the 2014 NCAA Tournament, but the Lumberjacks already had heads turning nationally for their run through the Southland Conference prior to the Big Dance.
SFA, already on an eight-games winning, streak, went 20-0 against SLC foes last season. The `Jacks, whose two losses prior were a 72-62 loss to Texas, in which the Longhorns pulled away over the final three minutes, and a 66-58 setback at East Tennessee State, picked up wins over Samford (98-78), at UNC-Wilmington (60-55), at High Point (71-68), Towson (79-69), James Madison (70-57), at North Texas (87-53), Elmhurst (83-49) and Cal State Northridge (74-67), before opening league play with Lamar on Jan. 2.
SFA disposed of its first five SLC opponents with ease, defeating LU (85-65), Sam Houston State (73-56), Houston Baptist (77-50), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (80-70) and Northwestern State (74-58), before a crucial road test at Oral Roberts on Jan. 23. Aired on ESPN3, the `Jacks trailed for 31:86, but got a put-back layup from Nikola Gajic with 33 seconds remaining and closed on a 4-2 run to hold off ORU 72-69. SFA then closed its five-game road swing with its national-leading eighth-straight road win in a 66-49 thump of Central Arkansas to make head coach Brad Underwood the all-time winningest coach in their first season at SFA with the team's 18th victory.
On Jan. 30, SFA returned home to begin a four-game homestand. The defense of William R. Johnson Coliseum and the then second longest active home win streak began with Abilene Christian. The `Jacks raced out to a 20-3 lead to put it away early in a 64-48 win over ACU.
Things didn't get easier from their however, as SFA went to the wire with Incarnate Word. Leading by as many as 15 points (26-11) in the first half, the `Jacks saw their lead diminish in the second half, trailing by seven at 69-62 with 4:06 remaining. Down the stretch, SFA outscored UIW 12-5 over the final four minutes, capped by Jacob Parker's game-winning tip-in with 0.6 seconds remaining to survive the scare in a 76-74 thriller.
The `Jacks closed their home stand with 93-64 and 74-54 victories over Nicholls and McNeese State to reclaim sole possession of the NCAA's longest active home win streak at 30-straight.
Desmond Haymond then scored 30 points in SFA's 78-69 win at LU to go over 1,000 points in his career, before the `Jacks reclaimed sole possession of the nation's longest active road win streak at 10-straight and nation-leading 12th overall road win in a 67-60 victory over Piney Woods rival SHSU on ESPN3.
SFA's final main test of the regular season came in the return trip from Northwestern St. In front of a near-capacity crowd of 7,148, the `Jacks and the Demons put on a show that the fans would not forget. SFA and NWST went head-to-head in the first 20 minutes, with either side keeping it within six points, as the Demons took a two-point edge into the break up 32-30. The 'Jacks would respond, going on a 17-14 run to open the second half, before a layup from Gajic gave SFA a 47-46 lead with 13:40 to go. The lead was that to be a tipping point from there, as the 'Jacks then went on a 13-2 run, holding NWST to just one field goal over the next 3:54, to stake themselves out-front 60-48.
The Demons answered the charge by SFA with an 18-4 push of their own to take a 66-64 lead with 3:09 remaining. The two teams traded layups, before Haymon knocked down two clutch free throws with 23 seconds remaining to tie it up 68-68. In the waning seconds, Jacob Parker stole a NWST pass and sealed the 22nd-straight victory for the `Jacks with a dunk with 0.3 seconds remaining in a 70-68 win.
SFA then clinched the outright SLC regular season crown with a 103-63 win at New Orleans, before closing out the regular season with wins at Southeastern Louisiana (75-62) and at home against ORU (83-72) and UCA (85-61) to finish the conference slate 18-0 and enter the SLC Tournament in Katy, Texas, as the top seed.
Inside the Merrell Center, the `Jacks defeated NWST and SHSU for a third-straight time on the season the punch their ticket to the Big Dance as a 12th seed.
2013-14 SFA Top Moment Countdown Schedule
Moment #1 - Tuesday, Aug. 19
Moment #2 - Friday, Aug. 15
Moment #3 - Men's basketball reaches Southland Conference perfection; sweeps titles
Moment #4 - Soccer claims its third-straight SLC regular season title
Moment #5 - Women's basketball claims a share of the SLC regular season crown
Moment #6 - Clint Conque named SFA's head football coach
Moment #7 - SFA claims 2013-14 SLC Women's All-Sport Trophy
Moment #8 - Elizabeth Arana's walkoff homerun caps softball's rally on Senior Day
Moment #9 - Men's track and field garners seven All-America honors
Moment #10 - Women's basketball advances to WBI championship game
Moment #11 - Men's track and field cracks the top-25 for the first time since 1996
Moment #12 - Baseball outlasts nationally-ranked Alabama in Tuscaloosa
Moment #13 - Football stuns second-ranked Montana State
Moment #14 - Colton Ross sets nation's top mark in pole vault
Moment #15 - Bowling claims first tournament titles in program history
-SFA-
