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2017 Tournament Central
KATY, Texas – For at least one more night, the defending Southland tournament title holders protected their house.
Three-time tournament champions Stephen F. Austin shot 62 percent in the first half while thwarting the efforts of First Team All-Conference forward Colton Weisbrod and Lamar with a 75-59 victory over the sixth-seed Cardinals at the Merrell Center on Thursday night.
The win pushes the Lumberjacks (18-13) into Friday’s semifinal matchup against second-seeded Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 7:30 p.m.
“I thought we got better,” said SFA head coach Kyle Keller, who earned his first tournament victory in his inaugural season at the helm. “We were really unselfish as the game continued to go on and played for each other. We’re just blessed to have another opportunity to play again (Friday).”
Keller and the Lumberjacks were also blessed by the effort of junior forward Leon Gilmore III, who helped pave the way to victory with 19 points and seven rebounds along with his defensive effort in holding Weisbrod to just seven points on a mere three field goal attempts.
“We really wanted to go inside and drive,” said Lamar head coach Tic Price. We didn’t finish at the rim when we did drive. Tonight was a rough night, but it was a good learning experience for us and will help us grow.”
Weisbrod, who came into the contest averaging 15.6 points per game, was shut out offensively in the first half as the Cardinals (19-14) shot just 36 percent in the opening 20 minutes and were unable to dig themselves out of a 39-25 deficit at intermission.
“We just played like we were supposed to play, executing our plays and being aggressive on defense,” said Gilmore.
“Limiting their big players and denying them from catching it in the post and denying them wide-open threes … basically, we were denying them the shots they were supposed to take.”
SFA took a 21-11 lead on a three-pointer from Isaiah Traylor with 11:20 left in the first half, but Lamar responded with a 9-0 run that was capped off by a triple from Christian Albright that trimmed the Lumberjacks’ margin to 21-20 at the 9:14 mark.
At that point, Keller, who had used a smaller lineup that Lamar had taken advantage of, returned SFA back to a more relentless style of play that sparked the Lumberjacks.
“We became more aggressive,” he said. “Our team is at our best when we’re attacking.
Attack they did, as SFA closed the half on an 18-5 run that included a 13-0 run that Gilmore capped off with a layup. A pair of free throws from Joey Frenchwood allowed Lamar to inch within 36-25 with 2:18 before intermission, marking the closest the Cardinals would get the rest of the evening.
“They just had overwhelming ball pressure,” Weisbrod said of the SFA defense, which forced 14 turnovers. “They had everything covered up.”
The Cardinals were unable to pull within less than 14 points and trailed 47-33 before SFA embarked on one last run that put the game away. The Lumberjacks went on an 11-2 run that extended their advantage to 58-35 with 9:22 remaining.
Despite long odds of a comeback, Lamar refused to let up even after Price put in his reserves in the closing minutes. Cardinals players were still diving for loose balls and applying pressure on SFA’s backcourt as if it were a one-possession game.
“We just wanted to keep fighting at the end of the game,” said Torey Noel, who led Lamar with 14 points off the bench.
Price feels his team has a chance to receive a postseason bid come Sunday night and is banking on at least one more game this year.
“I hope so,” he said. “I think these guys would like to have the opportunity for postseason play. I think that there may be an invitation or two. We’ll just have to reach out and see if there are people we know who can help us get there.”
Ivan Canete had 14 points for SFA, while Second Team All-Conference forward T.J. Holyfield added 11 for the Lumberjacks. Frenchwood had 11 for Lamar.