Stephen F. Austin
Arlington Baptist
SFA Begins Three-Game Stretch at Home by Hosting Arlington Baptist
12/20/2018 5:31:00 PM | Men's Basketball
'Jacks begin season-long homestand Friday night against Patriots
Game Eleven
SFA (6-4) vs. Arlington Baptist (2-11)
Friday, Dec. 21 | 6:30 p.m. | William R. Johnson Coliseum (7,203) | Nacogdoches, Texas
Live Stats | Watch (ESPN+/ESPN app) | Listen (Q107.7/TuneIn app) | SFA Game Notes
Play-by-Play/Analysis | Rob Meyers
THE OPENING TIP
• Fresh off a marquee non-conference victory at Baylor Tuesday night, the SFA men's basketball team returns to the confines of William R. Johnson Coliseum to begin its longest home stretch of the 2018-19 campaign Friday night. At 6:30 p.m., the 'Jacks do battle with Arlington Baptist in a tilt that will be carried live on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.
• Currently SFA is one of 23 NCAA Division I men's basketball teams from around the nation who have three of their conference's top 15 scorers. Senior Shannon Bogues leads the Southland in point production with an average of 17.2 per game while graduate student Davonte Fitzgerald (12.9 ppg) and junior Kevon Harris (12.8 ppg) rank 13th and 14th respectively in the league.
• The 'Jacks are one of three programs in the state of Texas who possess three of their conference's top 15 scorers. TCU (Big 12) and Texas Southern (SWAC) are also in that category with SFA.
• Friday night's battle with the Patriots signals a return to one of the best home courts in all of college basketball. Since 2011-12, SFA has gone 91-5 inside William R. Johnson Coliseum and leads the nation with a home court winning percentage of .948.
• Two of the most high-usage players in the country currently sport SFA jerseys. Senior Shannon Bogues leads the Southland in terms of minutes per game with an average of 35.7 while junior Kevon Harris is second in the league by playing 33.7 minutes per game.
SERIES SNAPSHOT
• Friday night marks the second all-time meeting between the 'Jacks and Patriots.
• SFA is 1-0 against Arlington Baptist, having defeated it by a 116-66 margin in the only other meeting between the two squads. That tilt took place on Dec. 21, 2017, inside William R. Johnson Coliseum.
• In that game, the 'Jacks set a new NCAA Division I-era program record by sinking 50 field goals in the lopsided win. It was one of many edits made to SFA's DI-era record book as SFA passed out the second-highest number of assists in a game (31), made the second-highest number of free throws in a game (33) and attempted the sixth-most field goals (80) in a game.
• John Comeaux matched a DI-era record by going a perfect 6-of-6 from the field in the 'Jacks' 50-point victory.
SCOUTING ARLINGTON BAPTIST | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• Led by Kennedy Jones (13.6 ppg) and Jashun Petite (10.2 ppg), the Patriots come into Nacogdoches on a three-game losing skid. ABU is 1-9 on the road and 0-2 in neutral-site games this season.
• ABU plays in the National Christian College Athletic Association's (NCCAA) Division II. They're also an independent member of the Association of Christian College Athletics which has programs in 11 of the United States and one of the Canadian provinces.
• Arlington Baptist's 11 losses have come by an average of 22.3 points.
LAST TIME OUT
• Playing in the exact same city where he played his junior college basketball, senior guard Shannon Bogues scored SFA's last five points - including the game-winning layup as time expired - to propel the 'Jacks to a thrilling 59-58 victory over Big 12 adversary Baylor at the Ferrell Center Tuesday night.
• Bogues finished with a team-high 21 points to go along with a game-high five assists as SFA moved to 23-29 all-time against current Big 12 opponents. With those numbers, Bogues scored or assisted on 59.1-percent of SFA's 22 field goals in the upset victory.
• The win was head coach Kyle Keller's first against a Big 12 opponent during his tenure as SFA's bench boss. Additionally, it marked the 'Jacks' first triumph over a Big 12 team since they took down eighth-ranked and third-seeded West Virginia 70-56 in the opening round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
• With the win, SFA notched its first win over the Bears since Nov. 25, 2003. Additionally, the 'Jacks evened up the all-time series with Baylor at 8-8. The series started up in the 1932 season and the 'Jacks improved to 3-5 in games played in Waco in the all-time series.
• SFA's defense paid big dividends in the win as the Bears committed 18 turnovers that turned into 14 points for the 'Jacks. Baylor's 58 points were tied for its lowest single-game output of the 2018-19 season and were also the fewest in a game since the Bears netted just 54 in a 57-54 Big 12 setback at West Virginia on Jan. 9, 2018.
• For the first 13 minutes of the game, neither team held a lead greater than three points. That changed late in the half, however, as SFA managed just one field goal make in the final 6:52 of the frame and found themselves at a 33-25 disadvantage at the break.
• Baylor used a 15-4 run over the final 6:52 of the half to open up its eight-point halftime lead, but SFA forced 12 turnovers in the stanza to make sure the Bears' lead never hit double-digits.
• It was the second half in which Bogues really started cooking. In that frame, the 'Jacks put up a shooting split of .520/.556/.750 and outscored the Bears 34-25. Bogues pumped in 14 of those 34 second-half points on a 5-of-10 shooting effort in the half while graduate student Davonte Fitzgerald made sure SFA's high-scoring senior didn't have to do things alone.
• Fitzgerald contributed 12 of his 15 points in the second half without receiving a breather. The Atlanta, Ga., product went 5-of-8 from the field through his 20 minutes of action in the second half and together he and Bogues combined to account for 26 of SFA's 34 second-half points. That works out to 76.5-percent of the 'Jacks' second-half scoring output.
• SFA trailed by six, 58-52, with 2:23 to go, and went to Bogues almost exclusively down the stretch in order to grab the win. During the 'Jacks' 7-0 run to conclude the game, Bogues scored or assisted on each of the three baskets by the visitors beginning by dishing to Fitzgerald for a mid-range jumper with 1:59 left.
• Bogues then hit a three right in the mug of Makai Mason with 40 seconds left to pull the 'Jacks within one. From there, Mason misfired on a jumper with eight seconds left and after Kevon Harris snared the rebound he dished to Bogues who drove the length of the court and dropped in the game-winner over Mason's outstretched arm.
• For his part, Harris finished with 11 points, seven rebounds and two of SFA's five blocked shots in the win. He and Nathan Bain (team-high eight rebounds) combined to grab 15 of SFA's 34 boards in the comeback win.
• Mitchell Seraille - who received his second-straight start - also finished with a pair of blocked shots in the win. His only field goal make of the night was a put-back dunk that started the 'Jacks' 12-3 run to end the game. Baylor did not get a field goal to fall in the last 4:20 of the non-conference tilt.
HARRIS HEATS UP
• After shooting just .343 from the field and averaging 13 points per game in his first four outings, junior Kevon Harris has come on strong over SFA's last six games.
• In that span Harris has connected on 52.4-percent of his tries from the field and is averaging 14.8 points per game.
BOGUES CONTINUES TO BRING IT
• With five of SFA's players sitting out due to various injuries and sicknesses, senior guard Shannon Bogues has had to play an increased role for the 'Jacks. It's safe to say the Killeen, Texas, product has excelled in that expanded role so far.
• The guard leads the Southland in scoring (17.2 points per game) and three-point field goal percentage (42.6-percent). He's currently ranked 66th nationally in long distance shooting percentage and 76th in the land with an average of 2.9 three-pointers made per game.
• His 29 total three-pointers are the second-most in the Southland as are his 136 field goal attempts.
• Bogues is also one of 50 players from around the nation who were placed on the Lou Henson Mid-Major Player of the Year Award Watch List in late November. The award has been given to the best mid-major player in college basketball since 2010 and SFA's senior is the only Southland Conference player on the list.
COMING UP NEXT
• Perhaps the most highly anticipated home game in program history looms for the 'Jacks upon their return from the Christmas break. SFA hosts SEC foe Alabama on Sunday, Dec. 30, at 5:00 p.m. That tilt pits the 'Jacks against an SEC adversary at home for the first time in program history and ESPNU will carry the live broadcast of that showdown.
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