Lumberjacks Dominate Crusaders in Home Opener

Monday, November 4

Nacogdoches, TX

7:30 PM

Stephen F. Austin

1-0,0-0Southland

University of Dallas

0-0,0-0SCAC

Dallas

SFA

Lumberjacks Dominate Crusaders in Home Opener

11/4/2024 9:53:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Peter Trainor, Student Assistant for Strategic Communications

NACOGDOCHES, Texas- The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks (1-0, 0-0) started their 2024-25 season off on a strong note as they defeated the visiting University of Dallas Crusaders (0-1, 0-0) 85-51 at the Sawmill on Monday evening.

The University of Dallas Crusaders got the first points of the night off a putback shot, however, Clayton Southwick responded with SFA's first points of the season as he recorded a nifty steal and fought through contact to bank home a shot off the glass to tie the score at two apiece early. Dominic Pangonis recorded his first points as a Lumberjack shortly after converting a three-point play to push SFA ahead 7-2. Pangonis kept his hot touch as he would drain the Lumberjacks first triple of the year on the next possession to put SFA ahead 10-2, three minutes into the first half.

The Lumberjacks would keep momentum on their side halfway through the first half as they would go on a 10-2 scoring run highlighted by four points from each of Myles Jenkins and Juhlawnei Stone to launch SFA further ahead at 20-2 at the halfway point. Thierno Sylla and Chris Johnson both picked up their first points as a Lumberjack on back-to-back possessions for SFA on a pair of layups to make the score 24-8 SFA.

Shortly after, the 'Jacks embarked on a 11-2 scoring run thanks to seven points from Chris Johnson to stake SFA to a 37-13 lead. Keith Lamar picked up his first Lumberjack points with just over four minutes left in the first half on an and-one play in which he converted the three-point play to push SFA farther ahead 40-18 late in the first half SFA entered halftime with a 47-23 lead over the Crusaders.

Matt Hayman started the second half off with a bang as he threw down an electrifying dunk off a pass from Clayton Southwick to give SFA the first points of the second half and a 49-23 lead. However, the Crusaders came out of halftime on fire as well as they would go on an 8-0 scoring run to trim the SFA lead down to 49-31. A 6-1 scoring run by SFA right before the halfway point of the second half reestablished the SFA lead to 55-32.

The two schools continued to exchange points almost evenly with SFA maintaining a steady lead over 20 points, which allowed Keenan Emmanuel to record his first points as a Lumberjack with nine minutes remaining in the game off a driving layup to put SFA ahead 61-38. An 11-2 scoring run by SFA with just over three minutes remaining in the game helped them to pull away from the Crusaders as they extended their lead to 74-46. SFA closed the second half with a 11-2 scoring run to close out the game as they came away victorious in their season opener 85-51 over the University of Dallas Crusaders.

The Lumberjacks shot 46.8% from the floor tonight, draining four three-pointers, and shooting 60% from the free-throw line. They pulled down 59 total rebounds as a team, while gaining 59 points from their bench, scored 64 points in the paint, and almost never trailed as they played with a lead for 96% of the game.

Top Players of the Game:

Chris Johnson: 17 points (led team), six rebounds, three assists (tied team lead), one block, one steal
Myles Jenkins: 14 points, six rebounds, one assist, one block, one steal
Thierno Sylla: Nine points, nine rebounds (led team), one steal,
Matt Hayman: Eight points, six rebounds, three assists (tied team lead), one block, four steals (led team)

The Lumberjacks will hit the road for their next game as they travel to Des Moines, Iowa when they travel to square off with the Drake University Bulldogs on Sunday, November 10th. Tip-off for Sunday's game is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. CST. You can watch all the action on ESPN+, as well as follow along with live stats provided on the SFA Athletics Website.

TICKET INFORMATION
Join SFA Basketball at William R. Johnson Coliseum this season. Season and single game tickets are on sale now. Fans can visit SFAtickets.com for more information.

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