Stephen F. Austin
Incarnate Word
Harris Joins 1,000-Point Club, Finishes with 25 in 'Jacks 74-71 Win at Incarnate Word
1/19/2019 5:50:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Junior hits game-winning free throws with 27 seconds left as 'Jacks end three-game skid
SAN ANTONIO - Kevon Harris capped off a 25-point performance by sinking the game-winning free throws with 27 seconds to go and the SFA men's basketball team put an end to a three-game Southland Conference skid by scoring a 74-71 victory at Incarnate Word Saturday afternoon.
Harris, who became the 31st player in SFA men's basketball history to enter the 1,000-point club before the final horn sounded, added a game-high seven rebounds. Davonte Fitzgerald put in 16 and Shannon Bogues amassed 15 in SFA's fourth-straight victory over the Cardinals.
FIRST HALF
• The first lead Incarnate Word enjoyed in the game came when Charles Brown III started the game by sinking a free throw due to an administrative technical foul. Following that foul line make, Samuli Nieminen swished a three-pointer to begin a 13-3 run for the visitors.
• SFA concluded the run with a long range hit off the mitts of Shannon Bogues that made matters 13-4 at the 15:49 mark. The 'Jacks drilled each of their first three-pointers
• Not wanting to let the game get away from them, the Cardinals' answered SFA's run with a 16-4 spurt that culminated with a Jordan Caruso three-pointer. That long range hit gave the home team a 20-17 edge with 10:07 to play in the frame.
• Caruso connected on a pair of free throws with 8:03 remaining in the half to push Incarnate Word's lead to 24-20 - its largest of the game. After those free throws, however, the 'Jacks made a push and took the lead for good.
• Shannon Bogues, Davonte Fitzgerald and Harris scored all but two of SFA's points during the visitors' 17-2 run that spanned 4:17. John Comeaux put in two free throws with 3:18 remaining in the half to hand the 'Jacks a 37-26 lead.
• SFA, however, watched its 11-point edge drop all the way down to four at the break after Incarnate Word concluded the half on a 10-3 scoring spree. Harris dropped in a driving layup at the horn to help SFA take a four-point lead into halftime.
SECOND HALF
• Though the 'Jacks never trailed in the deciding frame, the Cardinals didn't make things easy on them. A pair of free throw makes by Fitzgerald followed by a layup off the hands of Bogues pushed SFA's lead back to eight, 44-36, in the infancy of the final frame.
• The 'Jacks' lead was only allowed to reach eight points, however. Twice in the first five minutes and change of the half the Cardinals pulled within two. Christian Peevy helped the home team do so for the second time by making a pair at the free throw line that made matters 48-46 with 14:22 left.
• Needing some points, the 'Jacks turned to Comeaux who scored five in a row to help the visitors go back up by six, 53-47, with 12:57 left.
• A driving dunk by Harris followed with a smooth eight-footer by Nathan Bain kept the 'Jacks ahead by eight, 57-49, with 9:08 to go. From that point on, SFA hit just two more field goals and lived at the foul line in order to get the job done.
• Fitzgerald's straightaway jumper kept SFA's lead at eight, 65-57, with 4:45 left but that's when the Cardinals made their move. A 6-0 run by the home team culminating with a layup by Morgan Taylor shrank the 'Jacks' lead to 65-63 with 3:33 left.
• On the ensuing SFA possession, Nieminen struck again. Harris found his fellow junior at the top of the key and the Helsinki, Finland, product laced a straight-line long ball to quiet the Cardinals' crowd and give the 'Jacks a 68-63 edge.
• Caruso put in another layup with 44 seconds left that capped an 8-3 run by the Cardinals and tied things up at 71 points apiece.
• From there, Harris played the role of hero by sinking his two free throws. Bogues added another with two seconds to go and the Cardinals missed both of their three-point tries in the final 44 seconds to help the 'Jacks hang on.
KEY PERFORMERS/STATISTICS OF NOTE
• The 'Jacks thrived at the free throw line Saturday, finishing 22-of-30 (73.3-percent). A physical game from the get-go, the teams combined for 46 personal fouls which resulted in a total of 58 free throw tries in the 40-minute affair.
• Most of the 'Jacks' damage from the stripe came in the final 20 minutes of action. SFA went 15-of-19 (78.9-percent) from the line in the frame and attempted only 18 shots during that same span.
• Despite the low number of shots attempted, SFA hit most of them. The 'Jacks connected on 50-percent of their second-half tries from the field while Incarnate Word shot only .348/.250/.889 in the stanza.
• The nation's top free throw shooting team, Incarnate Word finished the game with an 82.1-percent (23-of-28) accuracy rate. Four of the six Cardinals who scored wound up with 12 or more points and leading the way in that area was Peevy (16).
• Twenty-three of the game's 58 free throw tries came courtesy of two people. Harris went 10-of-11 from the stripe while Peevy finished 10-of-12.
• Taylor turned in 15 points and dished out a game-high seven assists for Incarnate Word who held a 16-6 edge in assists.
• Incarnate Word held a 30-9 edge in bench scoring while the visitors claimed a 21-16 advantage in points off of turnovers.
COMING UP NEXT
• For the rest of the month, SFA won't leave Nacogdoches and the first of two home games to close out the month of January comes Wednesday evening at 6:30 p.m. That night, the 'Jacks play host to Southland and in-state adversary Abilene Christian in a clash which will be televised nationwide on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.
-SFA-
