Stephen F. Austin
Houston Christian
Jacks Eye Strong Finish in Houston, San Antonio as Regular Season Closes
2/27/2026 10:42:00 AM | Men's Basketball
SFA looks to bounce back following first home loss of the season, hunts most road wins since 2019-20
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Southland Conference-leading Stephen F. Austin looks to get back into the win column and close out the '26 regular season strong as road trips to Houston and San Antonio await the Jacks who can grab a share of the league's regular season title with a Saturday win at HCU. Tip-off is set for 3:30 p.m. with live coverage available at www.SFAjacks.com.
• LAST TIME OUT: SFA suffered its first home loss of the season in its final home game on the 2026 regular season schedule as the Jacks got off to a slow start, rallied late, but ultimately came up short as New Orleans put the game on ice at the stripe to earn a 77-73 win. It was just the fourth loss of the season for the Jacks and it snapped a 13-game winning streak.
- SFA shot 3-for-17 from three-point range with two makes coming in the second half; the third game of three or fewer makes from range this season
- SFA committed just five turnovers, the fewest this season, and turned the Privateers over 15 times
- The Jacks posted a season-best 83% (20-of-24) shooting from the stripe, but the Privateers went 21-of-24 including an 8-of-8 effort in the final 1:30 of play
- The second half featured four lead changes and three tied scores and SFA led for just 37 seconds
• AN SFA WIN ON SATURDAY WOULD:
--- give SFA a share of the regular season Southland Conference title with an opportunity to win the crown outright on Monday night in San Antonio
*It would mark the first regular season title since a three-way finish at the top of the 2021-22 Western Athletic Conference standings
--- be the first regular season SLC title for the Jacks since a 19-1 finish in the 2019-20 season
--- be win No. 26 this season; tied for the tenth-most wins in a single season
--- give the Jacks the regular season sweep of the Huskies after SFA picked up an 85-67 victory in Nacogdoches on January 10
--- give SFA an 18th win over HCU all-time and a fifth against the Huskies on the road
--- be the 19th in league play this season; the most since the 2019-20 campaign
--- be the 11th on the road this season; the most since winning a dozen on the road in 2019-20
• INSIDE THE STREAK:
--- The Jacks' 13-game winning streak was the longest by the program since 2019-20.
--- It was also the longest SLC winning streak since the aforementioned season.
--- SFA won its first 15 games of its home schedule for the first time since the 2017-18 season.
• ABOUT THE HUSKIES:
--- HCU enters the final weekend of the regular season 11-18 overall with a 7-13 mark in league play and tied with Lamar for the eighth and final postseason spot in March's SLC Tourney. The Huskies and Cardinals meet in the regular season finale.
--- Eight of the Huskies' 11 wins this season have come at home including three-straight.
--- HCU is disciplined on the floor committing a league-low 15.2 fouls per game which rates inside the top 30 nationally.
--- HCU averages 67.4 points per game with a scoring margin of -5.2
--- The Huskies shoot at 44.0% and defend at 47.8%, while averaging 32.0 boards per game
--- Kylin Green paces with a top 30 SLC scoring average at 10.2 ppg, while five other Huskies average eight or more points per night
--- Mambourou Mara is a top five shot blocker in the league with 40 blocks at 1.43 per game
--- Green leads the team with 132 total assists at 4.6 per game; both marks rank third in the SLC
• ABOUT THE CARDINALS:
--- The Cardinals are 11-18 overall with a 6-14 record in SLC play; one game back of HCU and Lamar for eighth place
--- It will be the 17th meeting all-time between the squads with SFA leading 14-3 overall
--- The Cardinals rank lead the SLC in three-point percentage at 37.9% which rates 21st nationally.
--- UIW holds the fourth-highest rebound margin in the league at +2.3
--- UIW is committing 11.3 turnovers per game which rates as the third-lowest SLC average
--- Davion Bailey is the league's leader in FGA (412), three-point attempts (241), three-pointers per game (3.11) and total three-pointers made (87), and ranks second in points (510) and scoring average (18.2)
--- Bailey's success rate of 36.1% from the perimeter rates second third in the SLC
--- Tahj Staveskie holds the second-highest scoring average in the SLC at 17.3 ppg and he ranks second in the league in minutes per game with 34:52, while Bailey leads with 35:09
--- Staveskie has made the third-most shots in the league this season with 175 and ranks in the top seven in assists (120) and assists per game (4.1)
--- Harold Woods is a top eight rebounder in the league led by 198 total boards and 4.79 defensive boards per game both of which rank sixth in the SLC
• FIVE FOR FIVE: For the fifth time this season and for the third time in a span of four weeks, Stephen F. Austin senior guard Keon Thompson was named the Southland Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week. Thompson adds Monday afternoon's honor, his third of the past four weeks, to awards garnered on November 10, December 8, January 26 and February 9.
Thompson averaged 24.5 points in wins over East Texas A&M and UTRGV. He shot 50.0% (17-for-34) from the floor and averaged 4.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.5 steals per game. Arguably his biggest performance of the season came against the Vaqueros as Thompson delivered a career-high 32 points, behind a career-best 12 made shots, with 25 points coming in the second half as the Jacks snapped UTRGV's eight-game winning streak, while improving their own to 11 games and clinching a double bye in March's SLC Tournament.
• 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 843 points in 52 games dating back to the start of last season. Thompson leads the SLC in total points (531) and scoring average (18.3); currently the fourth-highest in program history and the highest since the '91-92 season. Against the Colonels, Thompson moved into eight place on SFA's DI Era single season points list.
• 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 204; the most by the Indiana native in any of his three seasons in Nacogdoches. He also set a new personal single-season SFA best in defensive rebounds with a team-best 128. In his collegiate career, Christmas has totaled 763 rebounds across three seasons at SFA (520) and one season at Panola College (243). His 520 boards with the Jacks are among the top 215 active DI players and he is one of four SLC players with a 7.5+ rebounding average in league play this season.
• BLOCK PARTY: Jerald Colonel is near the career active lead among all Division I shot blockers with a 2.37 blocks per game average. The mark ranks 11th among all three levels of NCAA competition. His 140 career swats are a top 35 mark among active players. This season, Colonel has recorded a block in 26 of SFA's 29 games and has three or more blocks in a 14 games. An SLC all-defensive team selection last season, Colonel is leading the league in total blocks (73) and blocks per game (2.52). Both marks rank inside the top 9 nationally and his current total this season is ranked second on the single-season list; 17 back of the single season record.
• BURTON BUTTON: First-year Jack Kam Burton is shooting a team-best 44.7% (68-of-152) from three-point range this season which is currently the seventh-highest single season clip. As the season has progressed, and as the Jacks have continued to dominate, Burton has let if fly from range. In SFA's first 11 games of the season, Burton nailed multiple three-point attempts in the first six games and in eight overall with the first of two five trifecta efforts this season coming at Rice. In the 18 games since, beginning with the Jacks' road win at East Texas A&M, Burton has made three or more threes on nine occasions including his second and third performances with five makes from three at UTRGV and at home against Nicholls. Within those 18 games, is a six-game stretch beginning at Lamar (1/24) through SFA's home win against East Texas A&M (2/9) where Burton shot 53.7% from range with a team-high 22 made threes. He made four or more threes in four of those contests. Burton has made at least a single three in 12-straight games and has 11 games with 3+ makes from three this season with eight coming in '26. His career three-point percentage of 40.3% is among DI's top 50 active trigger men.
• 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': The Jacks have notched five games this season with 13+ makes from beyond-the-arc. SFA hit 13 against the Colonels (2/21) including nine in the first half. Against Southeastern (1/31), 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 (1/31) and has hit threes at a clip of 42% or better eight times this season with four games north of 50%. SFA enters Saturday's matchup having bucketed a three-pointer in 51 straight games.
As a team, the Jacks are shooting 36.8% from range which rates inside the top 45 nationally and third in the SLC, while its 9.3 made threes per game ranks second in the league.
• TAKING THE FREEBIES: The Jacks are coming off a season-best 83.3% (min. 15 attempts) from the stripe in the loss to New Orleans. The squad is averaging 16 makes from the stripe in seven February games and has sank 15 or more attempts from the line 13 times this season with nine 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 (1/12) 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.
• A HELPING HAND: The Jacks have recorded double-digit assists in 23 of 29 games and have committed 10 or fewer turnovers 21 times. SFA's assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.52 leads the SLC and the Jacks protect possessions as good as any team in the country with an SLC-leading effort of 9.2 turnovers per game: a top 12 mark in Division I basketball. The Jacks recorded the squad's fifth game with 18+ assists in the home win over Nicholls.
• 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 rebounds per game (38.03) and rebound margin (+4.9) and rank second in offensive rebounds (13.00) and defensive rebounds (25.03). 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 with seven per game. Colonel leads the SLC in offensive boards per night mark at 3.21.
• 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 leads the SLC in 3pt% at 39.2%; a mark that ranks inside the top 60 among DI trigger men. He rates third in the SLC in 3pt makes per game (2.55) and inside the top 80 nationally in total 3pt makes (74) which ranks third in the SLC.
This season, Chotikavanic has made multiple three-point attempts in 21 games with three or more makes in a dozen games including Saturday's win over Nicholls.
• LET IT FLY: The Jacks have surpassed their three-point output from a season ago and have sank the most threes since the 2015-16 season. SFA is currently six made three-pointers from setting a new single season program record. Chotikavanic (74) has made the most threes by a Jack in the last ten seasons and he is three made threes from reaching the fifth-most in a single season in program history. Burton (68 made 3s) and Patrick (60 made 3s) have hit three or more trifectas in a game a combined 21 times this season. This year's Jacks are the first SFA squad in program history with three players having bucketed 50+ three-point attempts.
• PERIMETER ACTIVITY: While Burton and Patrick 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 15 nationally in 3pt% defense at 29.8%. Through 29 games, opponents have attempted 20+ three-points shots against the Jacks 23 times and have made eight or more on only six occasions.
• ALL ABOUT POINTS: The Jacks enter Saturday's contest with the league's best scoring defense holding opponents to 66.1 ppg which rates 20th nationally. SFA's scoring margin sits at +11.4, 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 26, the Jacks rank 91st in the KenPom.com ratings and are 88th in the NCAA NET rankings. Both of those inclusions are currently the second-highest nods for a Southland program as the Jacks trail McNeese (No. 66 KP, No. 59 NET). Of the advanced metrics, the Jacks hold the No. 77 rating in adjusted defensive efficiency; higher than six other KP top 50 teams.
• WITH LOVE FROM CEDAR RAPIDS & DAYTON: The Jacks received a pair of votes in the Associated Press Division I MBB Top 25 on February 23. If the rankings were to extend out, the squad would rank at No. 37 nationally. The votes came from Cedar Rapids, Iowa's Owen Siebring of KGAN-TV and Dayton MBB beat writer David Jablonski of the Dayton Daily News and Cox Media Group.
• 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, climbed five spots to No. 11 three weeks ago and have held at No. 10 overall for the past two weeks. The Jacks' lone ranked opponent in the poll is fellow SLC foe McNeese at No. 13. 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.
Previous CollegeInsider.com Rankings
Feb. 23 | 10
Feb. 16 | 10
Feb. 9 | 11
Feb. 2 | 16
Jan. 26 | 16
Jan. 19 | 22
Jan. 12 | 23
• 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. 13 seed in San Jose's West Region with an opening round matchup against No. 4 Michigan State.
• SAWMILL SUCCESSES: The Jacks closed out regular season play inside the William R. Johnson Coliseum at 15-1 which included winning their first 15 games. That streak is the longest in Nacogdoches since the 2017-18 season when the Jacks also won their first 15 games before finishing 16-1 at home.
