Chrishawn Christmas’s Career Day Helps Lumberjacks Cage Wildcats in Non-Conference Finale

Tuesday, December 31

Abilene, TX

3:00 PM

Stephen F. Austin

7-6,0-2Southland

Abilene Christian University

8-7,0-0WAC

SFA

Abilene Christian

Chrishawn Christmas’s Career Day Helps Lumberjacks Cage Wildcats in Non-Conference Finale

12/31/2024 8:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Peter Trainor, Student Assistant for Strategic Communications

ABILENE, Texas. The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks (7-6, 0-2) defeated the host Abilene Christian Wildcats (8-7, 0-0) 62-57 on Tuesday evening thanks to a career scoring day from Chrishawn Christmas that saw him record his first career Division I double double.

The Lumberjacks opened up scoring in this mid-week matchup as Matt Hayman would drain a triple to put SFA ahead 3-0 early. Over the first five minutes of the half, the two teams would exchange the next 10 points evenly as each team scored five points apiece with SFA holding an 8-5 lead five minutes into the first half.

The next five minutes leading into the halfway point of the first half offered a fierce back-and-forth defensive battle as points were hard to come by with both teams combining for 15 points. With ACU scoring nine of the 15 points to tie the score at 14 points apiece halfway through the first half.

Shortly after the midway point of the half, Dominic Pangonis and Keith Lamar would become automatic from the free-throw line, with the two combining to go 5/5 from the line to help spark a 7-2 SFA scoring run to put them ahead 23-18 with five minutes left in the half. The final five minutes of the half offered more back-and-forth scoring between the two teams as SFA held a slim 29-25 lead at the end of the first half.

The Wildcats came out of the locker rooms with momentum as they jumped out to a 4-0 scoring run to begin the second half to knot the score at 29, before Chrishawn Christmas would drain a three-pointer for SFA to get the Lumberjacks on the board for the second half and put them back in the lead, 32-29.

Christmas's three-pointer would help him find his groove offensively as he would pile on the points in the second half by rattling off 11 of the first 13 points of the half for SFA to give them a 42-36 lead at the midway point of the half. The two schools continued to exchange points evenly with SFA still maintaining a steady six-point lead at 48-42 with five minutes left in the game.

The final five minutes of the game offered a flurry of scoring from both sides as the two teams would combine for nearly 30 points in the final five minutes. Keon Thompson and Chrishawn Christmas would combine for seven straight points for SFA to help wipe off eight points from the Wildcats and give SFA a 55-50 lead with two minutes left in the game.

The Wildcats would close the gap to just three points at 55-52 with one minute left, however, Chrishawn Christmas would continue his stellar career day with a pair of free-throws to keep SFA ahead five at 57-52. The Wildcats would continue to fight until the last buzzer, however, the Lumberjacks would come up clutch from the free-throw line over the final minute as they would tack on five free-throws to help deny the 'Cats of any comeback opportunity and eventually ice away a 62-57 win over ACU to close out non-conference play for the season.

Top Players of the Game:

Chrishawn Christmas: 24 points (led team, new career-high), 14 rebounds (led team, career-high), two steals, first career Division I double-double
Matt Hayman: 11 points, four rebounds, one block, two steals
Keon Thompson: Nine points, four rebounds, two assists (led team), three steals (led team)

The Lumberjacks will flip the calendar over into a new year as they get set for the rest of conference play beginning on Saturday, January 4th when they open up a two-game homestand against the visiting University of the Incarnate Word Cardinals. Tip-off for Saturday's match against the Cardinals is set for 5:00 p.m. CST at the Sawmill.

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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