Stephen F. Austin
Sam Houston State
Threepeat Complete
3/7/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Final Stats • 
Championship Photo Gallery
Stephen F. Austin 64, Sam Houston State 55
William R. Johnson Coliseum • Nacogdoches, Texas
Records: SFA (27-4, 17-1 SLC); SHSU (24-7, 15-3 SLC)
Up Next: 2015 Southland Conference Championship • Katy, Texas
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - In front of a William R. Johnson Coliseum record 7,328 fans, Stephen F. Austin outlasted rival Sam Houston State 64-55 to capture its third-straight Southland Conference regular season title. The Lumberjacks close out the regular season 27-4 overall and 17-1 in SLC play.
With the victory, SFA locks up the number one overall seed in the 2015 Southland Conference tournament in Katy and receive a bye to the semifinals. The Lumberjacks' first game will be Friday with their opponent determined Thursday night in the quarterfinals.
Thomas Walkup once again came up huge in the biggest games, finishing with a game-high 19 points and 11 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season and his third this week alone, shooting 7-of-10 from the floor with three assists. It complemented the double-doubles he had in the wins over Incarnate Word and Northwestern State to lead SFA to the title.
With the victory, head coach Brad Underwood recorded the 59th win of his head coaching career, becoming the all-time winningest second year head coach in NCAA Division I history. Underwood surpassed the 58 wins former North Carolina coach Bill Guthridge posted from 1997-99, while his .894 winning percentage is the highest of any second year coach in Division I history.
Clide Geffrard posted 11 points for the `Jacks, hitting 4-of-8 from the floor, while adding a career-high four blocks on the night. Trey Pinkney and Jared Johnson each added seven points apiece for SFA while Jacob Parker finished with six points and three rebounds, seeing limited action due to early foul trouble.
SFA was able to muscle out the hard-fought victory shooting 44.0 percent from the floor but was a very uncharacteristic 1-of-10 from three-point range (10.0 percent). The `Jacks also hit 67.9 percent of their free throws while limiting Sam Houston State to just 36.0 percent shooting.
Coming into the game, the Bearkats ranked among the top-10 nationally in both total rebounds and rebounding margin, but the Lumberjacks were able to prevail on the boards, holding a 42-31 edge.
Riding momentum from the 26-point victory over Northwestern State Thursday night, SFA came out sharp against its rival, racing out to an early 13-3 lead and forcing an early Bearkat timeout. SHSU spent the remainder of the first half chipping away at that lead, pulling to with one at halftime as the `Jacks took a 26-25 lead into the locker room.
Sam Houston State took its first, and only, lead of the game early in the second half at 29-28 off a three from Jabari Peters, which was quickly answered by a 6-0 run by the Lumberjacks to reclaim a five-point cushion at 34-29.
SFA maintained a small edge on the Bearkats, leading by as many as six, but Sam Houston State rallied to tie the game twice near the eight minute mark, the last of which came at 44-44 with 7:57 to play. The Lumberjacks' free throw shooting proved to be key down the stretch as SFA hit 16 of its 21 free throws over the final eight minutes, as well as forcing some key Bearkat turnovers to clinch the victory.
The Lumberjacks held the edge in every specialty statistical category, holding the edge over the Bearkats in points in the paint (32-20), points off turnovers (18-2), second chance points (6-3), fast break points (6-4) and bench scoring (24-15).
SFA sweeps the season series against its rivals, winning its 10th-straight against Sam Houston State. SFA also extended its home winning streak to 14-straight while extending its Southland Conference home winning streak to 29 games.
With the regular season concluded, SFA now looks to defend its Southland Conference tournament title next week at the Merrell Center in Katy. The Lumberjacks will open its title defense Friday in the semifinals.
-SFA-
