Stephen F. Austin
Incarnate Word
Already Champs, Jacks Hunt Outright SLC Title as Regular Season Wraps Up in San Antonio
3/1/2026 10:25:00 AM | Men's Basketball
SFA looks for league win #20 against UIW
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Southland Conference regular season champion Stephen F. Austin welcomes the madness of March with a regular season closing trip to San Antonio for a Monday night matchup with Incarnate Word. Monday's action will wrap up the 2025-26 regular season as a win will give the Jacks the outright regular season crown. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. with live coverage available at www.SFAjacks.com.
• LAST TIME OUT: It was all Lumberjacks from the jump as SFA shot 56% from the floor in the opening twenty minutes at HCU, knocking down four three-point shots and finishing the half at +11 in rebounding. The Jacks committed seven first-half turnovers but turned HCU over eight times and held the Huskies to a 24% shooting clip in the first half as the host bucketed just six attempts from the floor to head into the intermission with only 16 points.
Jerald Colonel grabbed ten first-half rebounds, while nine of the ten Jacks that touched the floor before the break found the scoring column with Keon Thompson leading with 11 points and Lateef Patrick following with ten.
HCU opened the second half on a 6-0 run but only managed to get as close as 18 points of the SFA lead down the stretch. The Jacks grabbed nine offensive rebounds in the second half and committed just two turnovers in the final twenty, while turning over the host ten times in the half.
• THE CHAMPS ARE HERE:
--- SFA's regular season title is the first for the program since a three-way finish at the top of the 2021-22 Western Athletic Conference standings
--- It is the first regular season SLC title for the Jacks since a 19-1 finish in the 2019-20 season
--- It is the sixth SLC regular season title for the Jacks after SFA won the season championship in 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014 and 2020
• AN SFA WIN ON MONDAY WOULD:
--- give SFA the outright regular season Southland Conference title
--- be win No. 27 this season; tied for the eight-most wins in a single season
--- give the Jacks the regular season sweep of the Cardinals after SFA beat UIW 56-46 in Nacogdoches on January 12
--- give SFA an 14th win over UIW all-time and a seventh against the Cardinals on the road
--- be the 20th in league play this season; the most in program history
--- be the 12th 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 CARDINALS:
--- The Cardinals are 12-18 overall with a 7-14 record in SLC play and are in a three-way tie with Lamar and HCU for the eighth and final tournament
--- 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 38% which rates 20th nationally.
--- UIW holds the fourth-highest rebound margin in the league at +2.1
--- UIW is committing 11.4 turnovers per game which rates as the third-lowest SLC average
--- Davion Bailey is the league's leader in scoring average (18.5), FGA (428), three-point attempts (249), three-pointers per game (3.10) and total three-pointers made (90), and ranks second in points (536)
--- Bailey's success rate of 36.1% from the perimeter rates third in the SLC
--- Tahj Staveskie holds the second-highest scoring average in the SLC at 17.4 ppg and he ranks second in the league in minutes per game with 35:19, while Bailey leads with 35:02
--- Staveskie has made the third-most shots in the league this season with 1781 and ranks in the top seven in assists (124) and assists per game (4.1)
--- Harold Woods is one of the top rebounders in the league led by 205 total boards and 4.77 defensive boards per game both of which rank inside the top six 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 860 points in 53 games dating back to the start of last season. Thompson leads the SLC in total points (548) and is second in scoring average (18.3); currently the fourth-highest in program history and the highest since the '91-92 season. Against the Huskies, Thompson moved into third 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 208; 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 129. In his collegiate career, Christmas has totaled 767 rebounds across three seasons at SFA (524) and one season at Panola College (243). His 524 boards with the Jacks are among the top 210 active DI players and he is one of five SLC players with a 7.3+ 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 2.35 blocks per game average. The mark ranks 12th among all three levels of NCAA competition and third in Division I. His 141 career swats are a top 30 mark among active players. This season, Colonel has recorded a block in 27 of SFA's 30 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 (74) and blocks per game (2.47). Both marks rank inside the top 9 nationally and his current total this season is ranked second on the single-season list; 16 back of the single season record.
• BURTON BUTTON: First-year Jack Kam Burton is shooting a team-best 43.7% (69-of-158) 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 19 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 19 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 13-straight games and has 11 games with 3+ makes from three this season with eight 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.
• 270 & COUNTING: Against HCU, SFA knocked down eight three-point shots to set a new single season program record for threes made with 270. The effort has surpassed the 269 made by the 2015-16 team in 34 games.
• THREE FAAALLLIN':
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 52 straight games.
As a team, the Jacks are shooting 36.3% from range which rates inside the top 60 nationally and third in the SLC, while its 9.0 made threes per game ranks second in the league.
Chotikavanic (76) has made the fifth-most threes by a Jack in a single season and is four shy of becoming only the fourth Lumberjack to bucket 80 in a campaign. Burton (69 made 3s) and Patrick (62 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.
• TAKING THE FREEBIES: The Jacks shot a season-best 83.3% (min. 15 attempts) from the stripe in the loss to New Orleans. The squad is averaging 15.4 makes from the stripe in eight 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. In February, the Jacks are shooting 73.7% from the stripe.
• 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 24 of 30 games and have committed 10 or fewer turnovers 22 times. SFA's assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.51 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 (38.07) and rebound margin (+5.1) and rank second in offensive rebounds (12.97) and defensive rebounds (25.10). The Jacks have grabbed 40+ rebounds in a game a 13 times with 50+ against a pair of non-D1 foes. Colonel leads the team in rebounding average with 7.5 per game and leads the SLC in offensive boards per night mark at 3.13.
• THE NAR"IT" FACTOR: First-year Jack Narit Chotikavanic, the Lone Star Conference Freshman of the Year a season ago, has been the top trigger man as SFA has notched a new single season program record for threes made. The Plano, Texas native leads the SLC in 3pt% at 39.6%; a mark that ranks inside the top 55 among DI trigger men. He rates third in the SLC in 3pt makes per game (2.53) and inside the top 85 nationally in total 3pt makes (76) which ranks third in the SLC. This season, Chotikavanic has made multiple three-point attempts in 22 games with three or more makes in a dozen games.
• PERIMETER ACTIVITY: The Jacks are clamped on the defensive perimeter. SFA rates inside the top 10 nationally in 3pt% defense at 29.1%. Through 30 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 Monday's contest with the league's best scoring defense holding opponents to 65.8 ppg which rates 18th nationally. SFA's scoring margin sits at +11.7, 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 28, the Jacks rank 88th in the KenPom.com ratings and are 84th 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. 68 KP, No. 60 NET). Of the advanced metrics, the Jacks hold the No. 75 rating in adjusted defensive efficiency; higher than seven 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 have been ranked 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.
