Stephen F. Austin
Texas A&M - Corpus Christi
Streaking Jacks in Corpus for Monday Battle with TAMU-CC
2/15/2026 11:52:00 AM | Men's Basketball
SFA eyes win #24, 12th-straight victory against SLC-top three Islanders as back stretch of regular season begins
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Stephen F. Austin wraps up its longest trip of the Southland Conference slate on Monday night in Corpus Christi in a top three battle with the Islanders. SFA handed UTRGV its first loss in nine games on Saturday night in the Valley and heads into the back stretch of February atop the SLC league standings with a two-game lead with five to play. SFA defeated Corpus Christi 69-60 back on December 17 in Nacogdoches. The Jacks will put a 12-game winning streak on the line against the Islanders. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. with live coverage available at www.SFAjacks.com.
• LAST TIME OUT: Senior guard Keon Thompson delivered a career-high 32 points with 25 coming in the second half on 9-of-10 shooting, Stephen F. Austin finished +16 in points off turnovers in addition to grabbing 19 offensive rebounds, and the Jacks defended the perimeter well holding UTRGV to a 19% success rate (5-for-26) to pick up an 11th straight win with a 66-57 decision on Saturday night in the Valley.
Thompson went into the half with seven points on 3-of-8 shooting as the Jacks made just 25% of their attempts from the floor in the opening twenty, but attempted 14 more shots than the host, while allowing just three Vaquero makes from three in 15 first-half attempts.
Coming out of the break, however, Thompson erupted offensively leaning into his physicality to deliver over two dozen points in 16 minutes making 90% of his shots with seven makes from the stripe. In less than a two-minute span under the eight-minute media, Thompson scored three times with each possession putting the Jacks back up three points as UTRGV closed to within a point of the SFA lead twice after leading by ten points with 8:48 to play.
• AN SFA WIN WOULD:
*give the Jacks the regular season sweep of the Islanders
*be the third-straight for SFA against TAMU-CC and the first for the Jacks on the island since February of 2021
*move the Jacks' winning streak to 12 games; the longest by the program since 2019-20 and the longest league streak since the same season
*be the 17th in league play this season; the most since the 2019-20 campaign
*improve its road record to 10-3; the first season with 10+ road victories since 2019-20
• MATCHING UP WITH THE ISLANDERS: The Islanders rely heavily on their bench which averages 28.9 points per game; the second-highest in the SLC. A&M-Corpus Christi also ranks second in fastbreak points average (13.88), free throw attempts per game (23.7), three-point percentage defense (29.9) and rate inside the top three in four additional categories. The Islanders average 73.5 ppg with a +5.5 scoring margin. A&M-CC rates fourth league-wide in both FG% (45.1%) and FG% defense (42.6%). Three players average in double-figure scoring with Sheldon Williams leading with 11.8 ppg. He paces the Islanders in rebounding with 180 total boards and 6.9 rebounds per game. Williams has recorded five double doubles this season. Nicholas Shogbonyo averages 11.3 ppg and paces the Islanders at the line at 80.8%.
• BOARDING SCHOOL: Chrishawn Christmas grabbed eight rebounds, his 11th game with 8+ boards this season, in the win at UTRGV and in the process eclipsed the 500 rebound mark for his career at Stephen F. Austin. Christmas is second on the team in rebounds this season with 187; the most by the Indiana native in any of his three seasons in Nacogdoches. He is a single defensive rebound shy of a new personal single-season SFA best. In his collegiate career, Christmas has totaled 746 rebounds across three seasons at SFA (503) and one season at Panola College (243).
• GETTIN' ACTIVE: Jerald Colonel recently moved into the career active lead among all Division I shot blockers with a 2.32 blocks per game average. The mark ranks tenth among all three levels of NCAA competition. His 130 career swats are a top 40 mark among active players.
• BURTON BUTTON: Over the past seven games, first-year Jack Kam Burton has shot 47.9% from beyond-the-arc in 48 attempts sinking four three-point attempts in wins over Lamar (1/24), Southeastern Louisiana (1/31) and McNeese (2/2) and five against East Texas A&M (2/9). Burton has made three or more shots from range in five of the past seven games and has made at least a single three in nine-straight games. He has ten games with 3+ makes from three this season with seven coming in '26.
• REMEMBER ME?: First-year Jacks Jerald Colonel and Kam Burton were no stranger to the Southland upon arrival to Nacogdoches last summer. And for their former teams, Colonel's Demons and Burton's Lions, both were reminded of the current Jacks' impact for their specific squads a season ago. Colonel averaged 9.5 rebounds and 5.5 points against Northwestern State in two wins in addition to collecting three blocks. Burton averaged 9.5 points, while shooting 55.6% in nine attempts from range in two victories against the Lions.
• AND I'M THREE FALLIN': Against Southeastern, SFA hammered 16 three pointers in a game for the second time this season and for the first time against a Division I opponent. The effort matched its season-high output of 16 against Dallas which was the most by the Jacks since hitting 16 against Houston Baptist in 2015 (2/28). It is the first time in the new millennium that SFA has made 16+ threes twice in the same season. The Jacks shot a season-high 57.1% from beyond-the-arc against Southeastern Louisiana and has hit threes at a clip of 42% or better seven times this season with four games north of 50%. SFA enters Saturday's matchup having bucketed a three-pointer in 48 straight games.
• NICE TO KNOW YA, JANUARY:
The first month of 2026 has come and gone and did so with the Jacks posting an 8-1 record in the month with the only loss coming in Lake Charles to February's first foe. In nine games in January, SFA averaged nearly 76 points per game with a +10.4 scoring margin. The Jacks shot 45.2% from the floor with a 36% success rate from three. Thompson led SFA in scoring at 17.7 ppg with Patrick following with 14.8 ppg. Christmas and Colonel combined to average 14 rebounds per night as the Jacks posted a +4.2 board margin. Opponents averaged just six three-point makes per night against SFA during the first month of the year.
• TAKING THE FREEBIES: The Jacks shot a season-best 81.8% (min. 15 attempts) from the stripe in its second game against Lamar (2/7). The squad is averaging 15.5 makes from the stripe in four February games and has sank 15 or more attempts from the line 11 times this season with eight coming in the New Year. SFA shot better than 71% from the line in five of their nine games in the month of January, something the squad did just twice in November and December combined.
• UNCHARTED WATERS: SFA's efforts in taking UIW to the deep end beyond-the-arc resulted in just the third time this season that a team failed to make a three against a DI foe. Per CBB Reference and most notably spread by @trillydonovan on X, it's the 10th time SFA has held a team without a three-point make since the 2007 season - tied with Princeton for the most by any team in that span.
• THE FIRST TIME SINCE: SFA's seven-game win streak prior to the McNeese lost was the squad's longest since the 2022-23 season which came behind the Jacks' first five-game win streak to open SLC play since 2020-21. SFA enters Monday's matchup having won 11-straight games; the longest active streak in the Southland, while the are one of five SLC teams with 10+ wins in league play.
• A HELPING HAND: The Jacks have recorded double-digit assists in 20 of 25 games and have committed 10 or fewer turnovers 18 times. SFA's assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.48 is second in the SLC and the Jacks protect possessions as good as any team in the country with an SLC-leading effort of 9.5 turnovers per game: a top 20 mark in Division I basketball.
• 1KEON: On the road against Southeastern Louisiana (Jan. 3), senior guard Keon Thompson, a selection to the Lou Henson National Mid-Major Player of the Year Midseason Watch List, reached a career scoring milestone with 1,000 career points. The Indiana native scored 452 points over two seasons (60 games) at UMass and has delivered 788 points in 49 games dating back to the start of last season. Thompson leads the SLC in total points (478) and scoring average (18.4); currently the fourth-highest in program history and the highest since the '91-92 season.
• WINDEX WARRIORS: Matt Braeuer's year one squad has developed into the best glass-cleaning unit in the SLC. The Jacks lead the league in all four major rebounding categories: rebounds per game (38.42), defensive rebounds (25.46), rebound margin (+5.3) and offensive rebounds (12.96). The Jacks have grabbed 40+ rebounds in a game a 13 times with 50+ against a pair of non-D1 foes. Jerald Colonel and Chrishawn Christmas lead the team in rebounding average at 7.2. Colonel leads the SLC in offensive boards per night mark at 3.15.
• BLOCK PARTY: Colonel, the reigning SLC DPOTY, carried his shot-swatting abilities across state lines from Natchitoches as the Georgia native leads the SLC in total blocks (63) and blocks per game (2.42). Both marks rank inside the top 12 nationally and his current total this season is ranked second on the single-season list.
• THE NAR"IT" FACTOR: First-year Jack Narit Chotikavanic, the Lone Star Conference Freshman of the Year a season ago, has been lights out from range. The Plano, Texas native ranks second in the SLC in 3pt% at 40.7%; a mark that ranks inside the top 40 among DI trigger men. He rates inside the DI top 80 in 3pt makes per game (2.69) and total 3pt makes (70) both of which rank third in the SLC.
• PERIMETER ACTIVITY: While Kam Burton (60) and Lateef Patrick Jr. (53) both join Chotikavanic inside the league's top 10, the only SLC program with three among the league's 10 best, in total made three-pointers on one end of the floor, the Jacks are clamped on the defensive perimeter. SFA rates inside the top 10 nationally in 3pt% defense at 29.0%. Through 26 games, opponents have attempted 20+ three-points shots against the Jacks 21 times and have made eight or more on only five occasions.
• LET IT FLY: The Jacks have surpassed their three-point output from a season ago and have sank the most threes since the 2017-18 season. Chotikavanic is one made three away from having the most makes from range by a Jack in the last ten seasons. Burton (60 made 3s) and Patrick (53 made 3s) have hit three or more trifectas in a game a combined 19 times this season. This year's Jacks are the first SFA squad in program history with three players having bucketed 50+ three-point attempts and are not far off from all three reaching 60+ made three-point shots.
• ALL ABOUT POINTS: The Jacks enter the weekend with the league's best scoring defense holding opponents to 65.2 ppg which rates 17th nationally. SFA's scoring margin sits at +12.3, the second-highest in the SLC, behind the league's second-best scoring offense at 77.5 ppg which currently stands as the highest scoring average for the program since 2020-21.
• KEN POM + NET RANK: Through games played through February 14, the Jacks rank 85th in the KenPom.com ratings and are inside the Division I Top 80 in NCAA NET rankings at No. 79. Both of those inclusions are currently the second-highest nods for a Southland program as the Jacks trail McNeese (No. 62 KP, No. 55 NET). Of the advanced metrics, the Jacks hold the No. 58 rating in adjusted defensive efficiency; higher than eight other KP top 50 teams.
• INSIDER TRENDING: After receiving votes for seven weeks to start the 2025-26 season, SFA broke into the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll debuting at No. 23 nationally on January 12. The Jacks climbed a single spot to No. 22 as of the January 19 ranking, held at No. 16 nationally for two-straight weeks and enter the weekend at No. 11 overall. The Jacks' lone ranked opponent in the poll is fellow SLC foe McNeese at No. 16. The Cowboys rallied to beat the Lumberjacks 66-64 to hand SFA its first league loss, but the Jacks got their lick back at home with a 67-60 win on February 2.
• JOEY BRACKETS: The latest Bracketology release from March Madness guru Joe Lunardi projects the Lumberjacks, who have five NCAA Tournament appearances in program history, as the No. 12 seed in San Jose's West Region with an opening round matchup against No. 5 Arkansas.
• SAWMILL SUCCESSES: You can't beat the comfort of your own home and for SFA they have yet to be beaten when in the comfort of theirs. The Jacks are 14-0 at home inside William R. Johnson Coliseum this season dispatching opponents by an average of 19 points. The streak is the longest in Nacogdoches since the 2017-18 season when the Jacks won their first 15 games before finishing 16-1 at home.
