Lumberjacks Fly Past Cardinals

Saturday, January 11

Beaumont, TX

6:00 PM

Stephen F. Austin

8-8,1-4Southland

Lamar University

9-7,4-1Southland

SFA

Lamar University

Lumberjacks Fly Past Cardinals

1/11/2025 9:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Peter Trainor, Student Assistant for Strategic Communications

BEAUMONT, Texas. The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks (8-8, 1-4) tallied their first conference win of the season as they used a big second half to defeat the hosting Lamar University Cardinals (9-7, 4-1) 72-63.

Following an early Lamar three-pointer, the Lumberjacks went on a 6-0 scoring spurt thanks to points from Nana Antwi-Boasiako, Clayton Southwick, and Dominic Pangonis to go ahead 6-3. The first ten minutes would be all Lamar, however, as they held an 18-8 lead at the halfway point of the opening half.

Keon Thompson and Juhlawnei Stone would combine for four points to bring SFA to within eight of the Cardinals 20-12. However, Lamar would again extend their lead to 27-18 with five minutes left in the opening half. However, at the five-minute mark of the first, Matt Hayman would catch fire for the Lumberjacks as he would knock down consecutive triples for the 'Jacks and would go on to score eight of the next 10 SFA points to cut the deficit to 35-26 with two minutes left.

The Lumberjacks would feed off the momentum from Hayman as they used the final two minutes of the first half to embark on a 6-2 scoring run capped off with a Dominic Pangonis layup with under 30 seconds left in the half to bring SFA to within five of Lamar at 37-32 at the half.

The Lumberjacks lost no confidence and momentum during the break as they exploded out of the half on a 6-0 scoring run thanks to back-to-back three-pointers from Nana Antwi-Boasiako and a layup from Matt Hayman to launch SFA in the lead 40-37 early in the second half. The Lumberjacks would extend their lead to 42-39 with five minutes gone in the second half.

Following a pair of Cardinals baskets that put them ahead with a slim 46-45 lead at the halfway point of the half, the Lumberjacks scored seven of the next ten points thanks to points from the active scoring trio tonight of Dominic Pangonis, Nana Antwi-Boasiako, and Matt Hayman to claim a 52-48 lead.

A 6-0 scoring run by Lamar to put them ahead 54-52 was immediately answered by an 8-0 SFA scoring run to keep SFA in the lead 60-54 with five minutes left in the game. The Cardinals would come within three points of SFA multiple times over the next three minutes, however, the Lumberjacks started to pull away with two minutes left as three straight Nana Antwi-Boasiako free-throws paired with a Chrishawn Christmas layup extended the SFA lead to 67-59 with 90 seconds left in the game.

The Lumberjacks would flex some clutch free-throw shooting over the final minute and half of the game as they slammed the door shut on any potential Lamar rally with five more free-throws courtesy of Keon Thompson and Matt Hayman to ice away the eventual 72-63 win for the Lumberjacks and grant them their first conference win of the season, while handing Lamar their first conference loss of the year.

Top Players of the Game:

Matt Hayman: 18 points (led team), eight rebounds (led team), two assists, four steals
Nana Antwi-Boasiako: 17 points, three rebounds, three blocks (led team)
Dominic Pangonis: 11 points, three rebounds, two assists, one steal
Chrishawn Christmas: Eight points, five rebounds, three assists (tied career-high), five steals (led team, new career-high)
Keon Thompson: Seven points, three rebounds, five assists (led team)

The Lumberjacks will look to carry this momentum back home as they travel back to the Sawmill to host the visiting Southeastern Louisiana Lions in a Monday night home matchup. Tip-off for Monday evening's conference battle against the Lions is set for 6:30 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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