Hayman’s 25-Point Effort Helps Lumberjacks Edge Out Demons for Fourth Straight Win

Saturday, February 15

Natchitoches, LA

3:30 PM

Stephen F. Austin

13-13,6-9Southland

Northwestern State University

11-14,8-7Southland

SFA

Northwestern St.

Hayman’s 25-Point Effort Helps Lumberjacks Edge Out Demons for Fourth Straight Win

2/15/2025 8:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Peter Trainor, Student Assistant for Strategic Communications

NATCHITOCHES, La.- The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks (13-13, 6-9) continued their late season surge as they picked up their fourth straight win defeating rival Northwestern State (11-14, 8-7) 70-68 on Saturday afternoon.

Matt Hayman wasted no time getting on the board in this one as a layup on SFA's opening possession paired with a three-pointer from Hayman as well put SFA ahead 5-0 early. Following a Demons basket, SFA would embark on a 9-3 scoring run thanks to points from Myles Jenkins, Chrishawn Christmas, and Keon Thompson to launch themselves out to a 14-5 lead.

The Demons would start to slowly work their way back in this one as shortly after the five-minute mark of the opening half, NSU would go on a 12-5 scoring run to trim the SFA lead down to two at 19-17 at the midway point of the first. Both teams continued to exchange baskets in back-and-forth fashion as points from Chrishawn Christmas, Keon Thompson, Matt Hayman, and Theirno Sylla kept SFA with a slim 30-27 lead with five minutes left in the half.

The final five minutes saw the 'Jacks start to extend their lead as they were able to enter the half with some momentum as they ended the first on a 10-4 scoring run, which was powered by consecutive triples from Matt Hayman and Nana Antwi-Boasiako to give SFA a 40-31 halftime lead.

Both teams came out of the break firing as two three-pointers from the Demons were offset by a combined five points from Matt Hayman and Keon Thompson to keep SFA in the lead 45-37. The Lumberjacks continued to stay one step ahead of the Demons as SFA still held a 51-43 lead with five minutes gone in the second half.

Following the first five minutes, however, both defenses started to buckle down as the following five minutes leading up to the halfway point of the second half saw Northwestern State go on a 6-0 scoring run to come within three points of SFA at 54-51. Following a Keon Thompson layup to break a 54-54 tie, the Demons would take their first lead of the game on a Love Bettis triple to take a 57-56 lead.

The two schools continued to exchange blows as SFA held a 65-61 lead with five minutes left in the game, which was extended to a 68-62 lead thanks to a Matt Hayman dunk with just over two minutes remaining. The Lumberjacks continued to stay just ahead of the Demons as they went ahead 70-64 with 90 seconds left off a Nana Antwi-Boasiako dunk, and were able to stave off a furious Demons rally over the final 90 seconds to escape sister town Natchitoches with a critical 70-68 conference victory win.

Top Players of the Game:

Matt Hayman: 25 points (led team), five three-point field goals (led team, tied career-high), three rebounds, four assists (led team), two blocks (tied team-lead), three steals (led team)
Chrishawn Christmas: 14 points, two rebounds, one assist
Keon Thompson: 14 points, seven rebounds (tied team-lead), two steals

The Lumberjacks continue their four-game road trip as they hit the road and travel to Commerce for a battle with the East Texas A&M Lions as SFA searches for the season sweep of the Lions. Tip-off for Monday's conference clash with the Lions is set for 6:30 p.m. CST.

TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets for the remaining two home games are on sale now. Fans can visit SFAtickets.com for more information.

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