Top Seed Jacks Advance Past Lions
KATY, Texas ? Stephen F. Austin knocked out Southeastern Louisiana, 67-56, Thursday at the Merrell Center to advance into the semifinal round of the 2009 State Farm Southland Conference Basketball Tournament. The No. 1-seeded Lumberjacks will take on the winner of the game between No. 4 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and No. 5 UT Arlington at 8:33 p.m. on Friday.
Mostly dormant in the first two meetings against the No. 8 Lions, 2007-08 Southland Conference Player of the Year Josh Alexander caught fire in matchup No. 3. The senior scored 25 points, including a 6-of-8 night from beyond the arc. The other half of the Lumberjacks’ one-two punch, 2008-09 Southland Player of the Year Matt Kingsley had an impressive night of his own. He scored 13 points, but did most of his damage on the boards and hauled in a career-best 17 rebounds.
Stephen F. Austin opened the game on an 11-2 run, and while it never pushed its lead to more than 12 points until the final seconds, the Lumberjacks never trailed and Southeastern never came within five points in the second half. From the start of the second half until the 14:23 mark, the Lumberjacks (22-7) and Lions (13-17) traded buckets until Alexander hit a pair of free throws and Eric Bell drained a three-pointer for a 51-40 advantage.
Stephen F. Austin saw three of its players score in double figures in Alexander, Kingsley and Walt Harris, who had 11. Brandon Fortenberry led the Lions in scoring with 13 points while Warrell Span and Patrick Sullivan added 11 apiece.