Stephen F. Austin
14-16
Sam Houston State
21-10
SFA Honors Seniors, Battles Sam Houston State Tough in 2018-19 Finale
3/9/2019 8:04:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Bogues ends career 27th on SFA's all-time scoring charts
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Within four points of 2018-19 Southland Conference regular season champion Sam Houston State at the half, the SFA men's basketball team was drilled with a 16-3 run by the Bearkats to start the final frame and the 'Jacks never recovered in a 68-57 loss to their Southland Conference arch-rivals Saturday night inside William R. Johnson Coliseum.
The loss ended SFA's season as the 'Jacks finished in a tie for ninth place in the final version of the Southland Conference standings. With that, the 'Jacks missed out on a spot in the Southland Conference Tournament for the first time since the 2004-05 season.
FIRST HALF
• Armed with the knowledge that a victory over the Bearkats would send them into the Southland Conference Tournament, the 'Jacks came out like gangbusters in their attempt to dethrone the league's regular season titleholders.
• Nathan Bain, Shannon Bogues and Oddyst Walker each drilled a three-pointer during the 'Jacks' 9-4 run to start the game. Those long-range shots were the theme of the opening frame for the home team as SFA shot 53.9-percent (7-for-13) from downtown during the first 20 minutes.
• Back-to-back trifectas off the mitts of John Comeaux pushed SFA's lead to 17-11 with 9:38 left. That six-point edge represented the 'Jacks' largest of the game.
• Two free throws from Bogues put SFA ahead 24-19 with 5:45 left, but from there the Bearkats took over. Cameron and Josh Delaney keyed the visitors' 15-6 run to end the half with the former putting in five points and the latter adding four.
• After that surge, Sam Houston State took a 34-30 lead into the locker room.
SECOND HALF
• A relentless barrage of long-range hits is what the Bearkats hit the 'Jacks with through the early stages of the final frame. Josh Delaney canned a trio of three-pointers and Albert Almanza added another for Sam Houston State who scored the first 12 points of the final frame to go up 46-30 with 16:18 left.
• Single-handedly breathing life into the 'Jacks, Bogues swished a pair of three-pointers to cap an 8-0 SFA run that pulled the home team within six, 55-49, with 5:55 to go.
• From there, however, SFA was held scoreless for 2:40 and Sam Houston State used three-pointers from Zach Nutall and Marcus Harris to push their lead back to double-digits.
• Again Bogues came to the rescue, draining another pair of three-pointers which cut the Bearkats' lead to 61-55 with 1:48 left. Just like what happened after the senior's earlier long-range outburst, though, Sam Houston State had an answer.
• Marcus Harris connected on another three-pointer with 1:17 left to extend the Bearkats' lead to nine and Sam Houston State went 4-for-4 from the foul line in the final minute to sew up the win.
KEY PERFORMERS/STATISTICS OF NOTE
• In his final collegiate game, Bogues finished with a team-high 17 points and went 5-of-8 from three-point range. Through his two-year career at SFA, Bogues poured in 1,075 points - the 27th-most by a single player in the history of the program.
• Comeaux contributed 13 off the bench and went 3-of-4 from long range.
• Jovan Grujic grabbed a team-high five rebounds in his final game in an SFA uniform while Davonte Fitzgerald added five points and three rebounds.
• Josh Delaney came up with a game-high 19 points and also went 5-of-8 from three-point land. Kai Mitchell added 12 and Marcus Harris 10 for the Bearkats who won inside William R. Johnson Coliseum for the first time since 2011.
• Mitchell finished one rebound shy of a double-double, grabbing a game-high nine for the Bearkats who finished with a 42-28 edge on the glass.
COMING UP NEXT
• SFA turns its attention to the 2019-20 season while the Bearkats get a double-bye into the 2019 Southland Conference Tournament semifinals.
• Bogues, Fitzgerald and Grujic were all honored for their contributions to Lumberjack basketball with a brief pregame ceremony.
-SFA-
