'Jacks Play Host to HCU, UIW

Saturday, January 10

Nacogdoches, Texas

5:00 P.M.

Stephen F. Austin

Houston Christian

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1/9/2026 3:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball

SFA puts unbeaten home record (7-0) on the line this weekend, aims to keep pace with league-leading Nicholls

NACOGDOCHES, Texas – After a four-game Southland Conference road trip that saw Stephen F. Austin nearly come away unscathed, the Lumberjacks are back at home for a pair of tilts over the next three days before heading back out on the road to close out the first round of SLC play with contents in New Orleans, Thibodaux and Beaumont. SFA puts a seven-game home winning streak on the line on Saturday night against Houston Christian and then welcomes in Incarnate Word for Monday night action. Saturday's contest against the Huskies from inside William R. Johnson Coliseum is set for 5 p.m., while Monday's matchup with the Cardinals is slated for a 6 p.m. start. All the action will be streamed live on ESPN+ and additional live coverage links, including live stats and Chase Merrell's radio call, are available at www.SFAjacks.com.

LAST TIME OUT
L, 66-64 at McNeese
Stephen F. Austin men's basketball saw its seven-game win streak and unbeaten Southland Conference record come to an end on Monday night inside Townsley Law Arena as defending league champion McNeese (12-3, 5-1 SLC) hung around to take a late lead that the host would not relinquish in a tightly-contested 66-64 decision. The 'Jacks (12-3, 5-1 SLC) led for more than 30 minutes but committed a season-high 15 turnovers in the loss.

The contest featured seven tied scores and five lead changes. Three of those ties came in the final 6:30 of play.

McNeese utilized a 7-0 run over 3:01 of play down through the under-12 media to tie the game at 47, while the 'Jacks went scoreless in nearly three and a half minutes before that brief stoppage. Following the timeout, the Cowboys then experienced a scoring drought failing to make a field goal for over four minutes as SFA used a transition three from Kam Burton in the corner to push the lead to six at 54-48 and prompt a McNeese timeout. Back-to-back Cowboy three-pointers followed a tough downhill drive and finish by Keon Thompson as the host notched the game at 56 with 6:32 to play.

McNeese answered SFA down the stretch drawing a tie at 62 before forcing a baseline turnover and an immediate bucket to take the lead with 75 seconds to play. The 'Jacks made just one field over the final four minutes of action as Jerald Colonel collected a long inbound pass from Chrishawn Christmas and finished off glass with seconds remaining. Colonel was fouled on the attempt and nearly grabbed an offensive rebound following a purposely missed FT down 66-64 with 2.5 seconds left.

ABOUT THE JACKS

SFA's seven-game win streak prior to the McNeese lost was the squad's longest since the 2022-23 season
The 'Jacks won five-straight to open SLC play for first time since 2020-21
SFA's seven-game winning streak to open play inside William R. Johnson Coliseum is the program's longest since the 2020-21 season
SFA ranks second in the SLC in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.50
- The 'Jacks have recorded double-digit assists in 13 of 15 games and have committed 10 or fewer turnovers ten times
- The 'Jacks protect possessions as good as any team in the country with an SLC-second best effort of 9.9 turnovers per game: a top 30 mark in Division I basketball
No team in the Southland has been as successful on the glass as the 'Jacks who lead the SLC in rebounds per game (40.40), offensive rebounds per game (13.60) and defensive rebounds per game (26.80) and rank second in rebound margin (+6.4)
- The 'Jacks have grabbed 40+ rebounds in a game nine times and are on a five-game streak corralling 40+
The 'Jacks employ the league's best scoring defense at 64.9 ppg (19th DI) with the second-highest scoring margin at +13.7
The Lumberjacks are active along the perimeter on both ends of the floor leading the league in made three-pointers per game at 9.7, while boasting the league's top three-point percentage defense at 28.7%

NEON KEON

Against Southeastern Louisiana, Thompson crossed over the 1,000 point scoring mark for his collegiate career
- The Indiana native scored 452 points over two seasons (60 games) at UMass and has delivered 565 points in 38 games dating back to the start of last season
Senior guard Keon Thompson was honored by the Southland Conference as the league's first men's basketball player of the week following the first week of action this season; an honor that followed Thompson's tabbing as the Lou Henson National Mid-Major Player of the Week
Thompson has since earned a second SLC Player of the Week honor in addition to being named to the Lou Henson National Mid-Major Player of the Year Midseason Watch List
Thompson has bucketed the third-most points in the SLC at 255, holds the league's third-highest scoring average at 17.0 points per game and is shooting at a team-best 47.7% clip from the floor which rates as the sixth-highest percentage league-wide
Thompson ranks third in the league in shots made with 93
He rates inside the league's top 12 in defensive rebound average (4.07)
Thompson has scored in double figures in 13 of 14 games with six 20-point efforts
He has recorded 5+ assists in nine games and he owns an SLC top ten assist-to-turnover ratio (1.94) behind the league's fifth-most assists (68)

BLOCKS & BOARDS

Jerald Colonel leads the country in blocks per game (3.07) and ranks second nationally in total blocks (46)
He has recorded three or more blocks in a game ten times this season with a season-best six coming against both Arkansas State and UTRGV
Colonel ranks third in the Southland with 116 total rebounds at 7.7 rebounds per game (3rd), while his 4.60 defensive rebounds per game and 3.13 offensive rebounds per game rank fifth and second, respectively
On the glass, Colonel has registered seven or more rebounds 13 times

SHOWTIME-IKANVANIC

Narit Chotikavanic shoots the three at the nation's 12th-highest clip at 46.5%, while his 3.07 three-pointers per game ranks second in the SLC and 36th nationally
His 46 total three-pointers made are inside the top 45 in DI and he has made multiple three-pointers in eight of his last nine games and in a dozen games overall
Chotikavanic hit a go-ahead three with less than a second remaining to complete SFA's comeback in the win over Pepperdine
In SFA's hard-fought home victory over ACU, he shot 80% from beyond-the-arc becoming the first 'Jack since 2017, the second since 2000 and just the fifth all-time, to hit eight three-pointers in a game
- He hit 5-of-7 from range in the first half against the Wildcats and netted all three of his attempts in the final twenty minutes
- His eight made threes are currently tied for the third-most by a player in the Southland Conference this season
Chotikavanic has scored in double figures in eight games, including 20-point efforts against ACU and Pepperdine

KEN POM + NET RANK

Through 15 games and as of January 9, the 'Jacks are rated 108th in the Pomeroy Ratings
SFA is the second-highest ranked SLC team behind McNeese which rates 75th
Among the metrics, the 'Jacks are 83rd in adjusted defensive efficiency
The NCAA's NET Rankings, as of January 8, has the 'Jacks at 93rd behind top 50 McNeese at 49th overall

HCU RUNDOWN

HCU is 5-10 overall, 1-5 in SLC play and has lost six straight games entering Saturday's action
The Huskies are ranked 299th in the KenPom and hold an NCAA NET rating of 304th
The 'Jacks are 16-3 against the Huskies since first squaring off on the hardwood in February of 1976
Two of HCU's three wins in the series came last year, while the 'Jacks are 11-1 against the Huskies in Nacogdoches
HCU is led by second-year head coach Craig Doty (17-30) who took over after six seasons at Emporia State (97-76)
Among the SLC-ranked statistical metrics, the Huskies committ the fewest fouls per game in the league at 14.6 which is a top 20 mark nationally
HCU averages 69.3 points per game with a scoring margin of -5.5
The Huskies shoot at 45.1% and defend at 48.0%, while averaging 32.53 boards per game
Kylin Green paces with a top 20 SLC scoring average at 11.9 ppg, while three other Huskies average nine points per night
Mambourou Mara is a top five shot blocker in the league with 21 blocks at 1.40 per game
Green leads the team with 77 total assists at 5.1 per game; both marks rank second in the SLC

UIW RUNDOWN

The Cardinals are 8-7 overall, an even .500 at 3-3 in SLC play and winless in six tries outside of San Antonio
UIW will matchup with Lamar in Beaumont prior to Monday's meeting
It will be the 16th meeting all-time between the squads with SFA leading 12-3 overall, 6-1 at home and were winners of eight-straight games until dropping both contests last season
UIW rates 169th in the KenPom, while holding an NCAA NET rating of 204th
Shane Heirman (35-47 OVR) leads UIW into his third season at the helm
The Cardinals rank second in the SLC in field goal percentage (46.1) and effective FG percentage (.539) which has led to the league's second-highest scoring offense at 81.1 ppg with a +8.5 scoring margin
UIW holds the fourth-highest rebound margin in the league at +3.9
The Cardinals rate as the best three-point shooting team in terms of percentage at 39.5% (9th best DI) with a league-best 9.7 makes per game
UIW is committing 10.1 turnovers per game which rates inside the DI top 35 and rates as the third-lowest SLC average
Davion Bailey is the league's leader in FGA (238), points (298), scoring average (21.3), three-point attempts (148), three-pointers per game (3.93) and total three-pointers made (55)
Bailey's success rate of 37.2% from the perimeter rates second behind Chotikavanic
Tahj Staveskie holds the second-highest scoring average in the SLC at 18.5 ppg and he leads the league in minutes per game with 35:21, while Bailey follows at 34:26; both top 50 mintues per game averages nationally
Staveskie has made the most shots in the league this season with 101 and ranks third in assists (72) and assists per game (4.8)
Jordan Pyke's 50.7% effort from the floor rates third in the SLC

NATIONAL CONVERSATION

For the seventh-consecutive week, the Lumberjacks are receiving votes in the CollegeInsider.Com Men's Mid Major Top 25
SFA accounts for the fourth-most points (45) among teams not in the top 25 putting the 'Jacks at No. 29 nationally if the poll extended out
That's the second-highest ranking of any Southland Conference team behind No. 20 McNeese

DOUBLE-DOUBLE TRACKER
Chrishawn Christmas vs. UTRGV (12/3/25) – 11 pts, 10 reb
Keon Thompson vs. Abilene Christian (11/14/25) – 15 pts, 12 reb

LIGHTING UP THE SCOREBOARD

The 'Jacks scored 193 points through the first two games of the season marking the most through two contests to start a campaign since the 2010-11 season
The 'Jacks eclipsed 80+ points in each of the first three games of the season for the first time since 2020-21
SFA has crossed over the century mark in scoring twice this season (103 vs. Millsaps, Dallas) marking the first season with multiple 100+ scoring outputs since the 2020-21 campaign

SEASON-OPENER SUCCESS

The 'Jacks have now won nine straight season openers since their last season-opening loss at #2 Kentucky to tip off the 2016-17 season
The win, in the first meeting all-time with Millsaps, pushed the Lumberjacks' win streak in home openers to 27 games
SFA's 103 points are the most in a season opener since dropping 114 on Howard Payne to begin the 2010-11 campaign

NEW 'JACKS ON THE BLOCK

Eleven Lumberjacks made their SFA debuts in the season-opening win against Millsaps
Patrick scored 18 points, all from beyond-the-arc, in his first action for SFA and Jerald Colonel followed with 13 points, eight rebounds, four blocks, one assist and a steal
Of the 11 new 'Jacks that saw the court, Marcus Scurry and Bryceson Melvin made their collegiate debuts
Scurry dropped 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting with two made threes in 21 minutes of work to go along with an assist
Melvin saw nine minutes of action and delivered his first career bucket in addition to grabbing four rebounds

BRAEUER GETS HIS FIRST
First-year head coach Matt Braeuer earned his first career win against Millsaps, knocked off Arkansas State for his first win over a Division I opponent and then the 'Jacks handled Rice for Braeuer's first road win.

99 SEASONS FAST FACTS
*70 seasons with an overall record north of .500
*31 seasons of 20 or more wins
*5 NCAA Tournament appearances
*2 seasons of 30 or more wins

AXES SHARPENED IN PINEY WOODS BATTLE
An exhibition edition of the hardwood version of the Battle of the Piney Woods took place in Houston on October 25 and it was the Lumberjacks that outlasted their Conference USA opposition in overtime beating longtime foe Sam Houston State 105-100 in the extra period. SFA shot over 51% from the floor, withstood a 59-point second-half effort by the Bearkats who erased a 15-point deficit at the intermission and used a 43-point outburst, including a perfect 19-of-19 from the stripe, by Thompson to claim the unofficial victory in a series that was first contested in 1925.

SLC VIRTUAL MEDIA DAY
Head coach Matt Braeuer and senior guard Keon Thompson joined the Field of 68 on October 27 as part of the SLC's Virtual Media Day. The interview is available on-demand here.

CUE THE MUSIC
CBS Sports announced a slate of five Southland Conference men's basketball matchups that will be featured on the network this coming season and among the showcased contests is a January 26 matchup between the 'Jacks and cross-border rival Northwestern State inside William R. Johnson Coliseum.

SEASON THEMES & PROMOTIONS
A dozen dynamic nights designed for fan engagement and to pack out WRJ with Lumberjack spirit are on tap during the 2025-26 season. From classic promotions like "Cram the Coliseum" and "Purple Out" to new favorites such as "Dance Hall Night" and "Social Media Night," this season's lineup promises a high-energy experience for fans of all ages. For a full list of game themes and promotions, visit here.

SECURE YOUR SEATS TODAY
Single game tickets and five-game flex plans for the remaining nine SFA men's basketball home matchups are available for purchase now. Fans interested in purchasing season ticket packages can secure their seats here. Don't miss out on all the exciting action inside William R. Johnson Coliseum this season!

THE 'JACKS HAVE GONE MOBILE
SFA Athletics' newest mobile phone application is designed to bring Lumberjack fans closer to the action than ever before. Available now on both the App Store and Google Play, the new SFA Athletics app delivers schedules, scores, rosters, news, ticket access, and exclusive content right to your phone. Fans can also receive push notifications, so they never miss a moment of the action. Download now: Official SFA Athletics App.

FOLLOW THE LUMBERJACKS
For all the latest information on SFA men's basketball, visit SFAjacks.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Lumberjacks on X, Instagram and Facebook.

#AxeEm x #WinTogether