Lumberjacks Lose Nail-Biter to Cardinals

Saturday, February 22

San Antonio, TX

5:00 PM

Stephen F. Austin

14-14,7-10Southland

University of the Incarnate Word

14-14,7-10Southland

SFA

UIW

Lumberjacks Lose Nail-Biter to Cardinals

2/22/2025 8:17:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Peter Trainor, Student Assistant for Strategic Communications

SAN ANTONIO, Texas- The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks (14-14, 7-10) fell on the road to the University of the Incarnate Word Cardinals (14-14, 7-10) by a final score of 63-61.

UIW opened the scoring for both sides with a pair of free-throws, however, Matt Hayman continued his hot stretch of scoring as he opened the SFA side of the scoreboard with a triple on the ensuing SFA possession to give them a 3-2 lead. UIW maintained a slim 6-5 lead until Matt Hayman hit consecutive three-pointers to help spark an 8-0 scoring run to put the Lumberjacks ahead 13-6 five minutes into the first half.

Incarnate Word would try to mount a comeback midway through the half as they would rattle off 12 points over the next five minutes. Keith Lamar fed off of Matt Hayman's momentum from downtown as he would drain a pair of triples himself to offset the Cardinals points and keep SFA in the lead at 19-18.

The two schools would exchange large scoring runs over the final ten minutes. UIW would go on an 11-4 scoring run to take a 29-23 lead with three minutes remaining in the half, however, SFA would promptly respond with a 9-3 scoring run of their own thanks to points from Dominic Pangonis, Juhlawnei Stone, and Keon Thompson to keep the score tied at 32. The Cardinals would get the last two points of the half on a layup with 12 seconds left in the half giving UIW a 34-32 halftime lead over the 'Jacks.

The Cardinals came out at halftime with a triple and a free-throw to push their lead to 38-32. A Chrishawn Christmas jumper and five more points from Matt Hayman helped engineer a 7-0 scoring run to launch the 'Jacks back in the lead 39-38. The Cardinals would tack on six more points over the first five minutes and held a slim 44-41 lead over SFA.

The two schools continued to exchange points in back-and-forth fashion as points from Myles Jenkins and Matt Hayman were offset by the Cardinals as they maintained a steady 55-49 lead with 10 minutes left in the game. SFA continued to stay within striking distance of the Cardinals as a 7-2 scoring run sparked by a fifth Matt Hayman three-pointer brought them to within a single point of the Cardinals at 57-56.

The two schools would exchange baskets as the Cardinals continued to remain a step ahead of SFA at 61-58 with five minutes remaining in the game. However, points would be hard to come by over the final five minutes as both defenses locked down the opposing offenses as no points were scored until the final 30 seconds of the game.

With UIW leading 61-58, Matt Hayman would convert on a pair of free-throws to bring SFA to within one at 61-60, however, the Cardinals would convert on their free-throws on the other end to maintain a 63-60 lead with 15 seconds left. Keon Thompson would be sent to the line with five seconds left and made his first free-throw, before intentionally missing the second, unfortunately for the Lumberjacks, they would be unable to find the equalizing points and fell 63-61 on the road to the Cardinals.

Top Lumberjacks of the Game:

Matt Hayman: 23 points (led team), five three-point field goals (led team, tied career-high), and two steals
Keon Thompson: Eight points, five rebounds (tied team lead), two assists (led team)
Dominic Pangonis: Eight points, two rebounds, one assist, one steal

The Lumberjacks close out their road schedule for the season as they head to Houston on Monday night to clash with the Houston Christian Huskies on Monday, February 24th. Tip-off for Monday's battle with the Huskies is set for 7:00 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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