Stephen F. Austin
Houston Baptist
Floyd's Sizzling Touch Aids 'Jacks 104-68 SLC Tourney Semifinal Smacking of Houston Baptist
3/11/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
SFA Postgame Interview • Head Coach Brad Underwood • Thomas Walkup • Demetrious Floyd
rv/-- Stephen F. Austin 104, Houston Baptist 68
Leonard E. Merrell Center • Katy, Texas
Records: SFA (26-5), Houston Baptist (17-16)
Up next: vs. Texas A&M-CC (25-6) • SLC Tournament Finals • Sat., March 12 • 8:30 p.m.
KATY, Texas - Driven by an unyielding desire to remain the unquestioned lords of the Southland Conference, the Stephen F. Austin men's basketball team made sure that an upset-minded Houston Baptist wouldn't stand between it and a highly coveted road trip that only a select few men's basketball teams get to take around this time of year.
An unrelenting long-range assault by Floyd, who finished with a game-high 30 points by tying a career high with six long balls, in conjunction with SLC Player of the Year Thomas Walkup's 23-point outing led the top-seeded `Jacks in their 104-68 bulldozing of number-four seed Houston Baptist at the Leonard E. Merrell Center on Friday evening.
Possessing a razor-sharp focus with the realization that just two teams stood between them and a third-consecautive trip to the NCAA Tournament, SFA didn't shy away from a tried-and-true method that has been the foundation of its nation-leading 19-game winning streak.
Wreaking havoc with their nightmare-inducing defense, the `Jacks forced 18 turnovers and registered 29 of their season-best total off of them. That ultra-aggressive style also manifested itself on offense as SFA embarked on a multitude of hard-driving excursions to the tin that yielded a season-best 29 free throws on 32 attempts.
Clide Geffrard finished one rebound shy of a double-double, netting 15 points and grabbing nine rebounds. Ty Charles matched his senior teammate by taking to the sky for nine boards while freshman TJ Holyfield tied a career-high by scoring 13 points.
Clearly the aggressors from the moment tip-off occurred, the `Jacks took off on a 9-0 run out of the gates with five of those markers coming from Floyd. That nine-point edge remained after a Walkup layup made it 14-5, but the Huskies main push came within the new few minutes.
SFA's wire-to-wire victory in the first of two SLC Tournament semifinal bouts was in doubt only for a few brief moments in the opening stanza when the Huskies took up a threatening posture by cutting a once-comfortable Lumberjack advantage to just once by using a 16-8 run. Asa Cantwell poured in the final six points of that surge with a long ball and an old-fashioned three-point play that made matters 22-21 with 9:12 to go.
Whatever changes the Huskies had enacted on the defensive end were quickly solved by the `Jacks, who commenced a 32-11 run to put the game away over the final 8:35 of the opening stanza. During that span, SFA's hounding defense allowed just three field goal makes by the Huskies. Twelve of SFA's 32 in that span came at the free throw line, but Floyd stole the show from the field by pouring in 10 of SFA's last 12 first-half markers on an array of three-pointers and quick layups.
The senior eluded a defender as the clock ran out in the stanza and splashed an icy triple that gave the `Jacks a 54-32 lead heading to the halftime break.
Once the second half got going, the `Jacks' lead never dipped below 20 points and it skied to as high at 39, 99-60, after JaQuan Smith sank his first of two free throws with 5:04 left in the game.
The Huskies, who had won their first Southland Conference Tournament game in program history on Friday night, got 20 points from Caleb Crayton as well as 12 from Cantwell and another 11 from Anthony Odunsi in the setback.
Walkup and Trey Pinkney each passed out a game-best six assists as SFA shot just a shade better than the Huskies - 47.1-percent to 43.1-percent.
For the first time ever, the 'Jacks and Islanders will battle for the right to represent the Southland Conference in the 2016 NCAA Tournament. The SLC Tournament Championship battle will begin at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday night and will be broadcast live on ESPN2.
