Stephen F. Austin
8-6, 1-1SLC
Nicholls
9-7, 2-1SLC
Harris Goes Off for 30 in SFA's Southland Skirmish at Nicholls
1/9/2019 9:01:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Junior posts second 30-point game of collegiate career Wednesday night
THIBODAUX, La. - Kevon Harris went off for a game and season-high 30 points and Shannon Bogues tied things at 71-all by connecting on a driving layup with 1:21 left but Nicholls had the final say as it ended the game on a 7-2 run over the last 1:02 to hand the SFA men's basketball team a difficult 78-73 Southland Conference setback Wednesday night.
Karl Nicholas added 14 and eight rebounds for the 'Jacks who were outscored 18-4 in the game's first 7:31. Forced to climb out of that hole, SFA did take the lead briefly in the second half but Nicholls' free throw shooting late iced things for the home team.
FIRST HALF
• Hoping to snap an 11-game losing skid to SFA, Nicholls came out of the gates scorching hot. Jeremiah Jefferson connected on a pair of three-pointers while Daniel Regis finished the Colonels' 18-4 run to start the game with a pair of driving one-handed slams.
• Staring a 14-point deficit squarely in the face with 12:29 remaining in the opening frame, SFA reeled off six points in a row to pull within single digits. Nicholas started the move with a nifty post move that resulted in a layup and Harris finished the surge by sinking a pair of free throws with 11:12 left.
• Nicholls, however, battled back and went back up by 14, 33-19, after a jumper by Kevin Johnson with 3:52 to go in the stanza. It was then that Harris made a decision to take over.
• During the 'Jacks' 8-2 run to close the frame, the junior hammered home a pair of dunks and helped the visitors close to within eight, 35-27, at the horn.
• Outside of the Colonels' big run to start the game, the teams finished just about dead even in terms of shooting in the frame. SFA put up a team shooting split of .353/.167/.286 while the Colonels turned in a split of .371/.286/.750.
• Harris and Nicholas put in eight each for the 'Jacks while Jefferson (11 points) and Brandon Moore (10 points) combined for 21 of the Colonels' 35 first-half markers.
SECOND HALF
• Dissatisfied with their first-half performances, the 'Jacks came out strong in the final stanza. Through the course of the team's 13-4 run during the first 4:48 of the half, Harris flexed his scoring muscle in a big way by putting in nine of SFA's 13 including two of his three long-range hits.
• It was the junior's three-point play with 15:12 left that handed SFA its first lead of the night, 40-39. That lead, however, was the only one the 'Jacks claimed.
• Right after Harris' three-point play, the Colonels snatched the momentum right back with a 12-3 run over the next 4:28 to take a 51-43 lead. Gavin Peppers netted six during that run while Moore added five.
• Needing something to get them going, the 'Jacks against went to Harris who scored six points in a row for the visitors to trim the Colonels' lead to 53-49 with 9:07 to go.
• Harris finished off his 30-point effort with another three-point play that pulled the 'Jacks within one, 66-65, with 4:15 left.
• Nicholas then went on a personal 4-0 run culminating with a pair of free throw makes to knot things at 69-all with 2:33 left.
• After a Moore jumper, Shannon Bogues dropped in a driving layup with 1:21 left to equalize things at 71. Unfortunately, Moore was fouled with 1:02 left and converted both of his tries at the line to put the home team up the rest of the way.
• Through the final 1:02, SFA went 1-of-4 from the field and 0-of-2 at the free throw line. The Colonels, meanwhile, went 7-of-8 at the stripe to close things out.
KEY PERFORMERS/STATISTICS OF NOTE
• Harris finished one point shy of tying his career high in scoring but did finish with a game-high nine rebounds.
• Bogues netted 13 for the 'Jacks to extend his streak of double-digit scoring games to 15. That stretch dates back to the 2017-18 season.
• Moore contributed a team-high 25 points for Nicholls while Jefferson and Peppers added 15 apiece. Nicholls shot just 8-of-31 (.258) from long range but went 16-of-20 (.800) from the free throw line compared to a clip of just 9-of-17 (.529) for SFA.
• Peppers and Kevin Johnson each dished out seven assists for Nicholls while John Comeaux passed out a team-high four for SFA.
• SFA and Nicholls combined to go just 12-of-46 (.261) from three-point range.
COMING UP NEXT
• Saturday afternoon at 4:30 p.m., SFA will try to get back in the Southland Conference win column as it returns to William R. Johnson Coliseum to play host to longtime Louisiana adversary Northwestern State. ESPN3 and the ESPN app will carry the action between the 'Jacks and Demons.
-SFA-
