Stephen F. Austin
11-3, 0-1SLC
Southeastern Louisiana
7-7, 1-0SLC
Late Southeastern Louisiana Run Dooms rv/rv SFA in 73-62 Loss to Lions
12/28/2017 10:07:00 PM | Men's Basketball
SFA drops first Southland Conference opener since 2010-11, Holyfield nets 17
HAMMOND, La. - Junior TJ Holyfield's layup with 2:21 left put the Stephen F. Austin men's basketball team up by one but Southeastern Louisiana ended the game on a 12-0 run in the final 1:26, shocking the rv/rv 'Jacks in a 73-62 loss at the University Center Thursday night.
In the 2017-18 Southland Conference opener for both teams, Holyfield finished with a team-high 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting for SFA, but no other Lumberjack exceeded nine points. The setback was SFA's first in a Southland opener since the 2010-11 season and in the loss the 'Jacks finished 4-of-14 (28.6-percent) from three-point land and 12-of-18 (66.7-percent) from the foul line.
Marlain Veal (27 points, 10 rebounds) and James Currington (14 points, 10 rebounds) each finished with double-doubles for the Lions who finished +19 in free throw attempts and +14 in free throw makes throughout the 40-minute affair.
Veal also dished out six assists - two fewer than SFA's team total - and even though both teams turned the ball over 22 times, the Lions held advantages in blocked shots (6-0), steals (10-6), rebounds (32-27) and assists (14-8) to offset the double-digit throwaways.
For the second year in a row, SFA suffered from a slow start inside the University Center. Ivan Canete's driving layup represented the 'Jacks' only bucket of the first 5:02 while the Lions' Veal amassed six of his 10 first-half points during the hosts' 11-2 run to begin the game.
Veal put in his third field goal of the night with 14:10 to go in the game to keep the Lions' lead at double-digits, 15-4, before the 'Jacks' offense finally came to life. Beginning with a pair of John Comeaux free throw makes, SFA took off on a 13-1 run which spanned 3:42 to capture its first advantage of the night. Holyfield concluded SFA's surge by banking in a straightaway three-pointer to hand the 'Jacks a 17-16 lead.
The Lions, however, did anything but go away and netted seven of the next 10 points to reclaim a three-point edge. Senior Ty Charles helped the 'Jacks respond and take their largest lead of the opening frame by drawing two charges and putting in all five of his first-half points that upped SFA's edge to 27-24 with 3:39 left in the stanza.
Just when it appeared as though the 'Jacks had taken the wind out of the Lions' sails, the hosts responded once again. James Currington scored four of SLU's nine points during the Lions' 9-2 run over the final 3:19 of the first half. At the break, SFA trailed 33-29 partly due to the Lions' going 11-of-18 from the foul line in the half.
During the final 20 minutes of action, SFA led for only 4:16 and had to whittle away at a Southeastern Louisiana lead that grew to as many as nine points after a long ball by Veal pushed the hosts ahead 47-38 with 13:13 left.
From there, SFA took off on a 20-9 run and took its first lead of the final 20 minutes when Canete drained a three-pointer which made matters 56-54 with 5:10 to go. Holyfield connected on another inside score less than a minute later to push the 'Jacks' lead to 58-55 - its largest of the game.
In the final 2:21, SFA went cold. The 'Jacks hit only one of their five field goal tries and committed three of their 11 second-half turnovers.
Wednesday night, the 'Jacks return to their home floor of William R. Johnson Coliseum to try and secure their first Southland Conference victory of 2017-18. At 7:00 p.m. that night, SFA will do battle with Nicholls who walloped Northwestern State 87-46 in Thibodaux, La., Thursday night.
-SFA-
