Box Score Feb. 23, 2015 Box Score
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Lamar Cardinals were unable to overcome a hot shooting Stephen F. Austin team dropping a 103-74 decision to the Lumberjacks Monday evening at the William R. Johnson Coliseum. The loss ended Lamar's recent three-game win streak, and dropped Lamar to 14-13 on the season, and 8-7 in Southland Conference play.
"I'm very disappointed in the way we competed tonight," said head coach Tic Price. "Four of our first five possessions resulted in turnovers. That was a microcosm of how the whole game went. We gave up too many transition buckets. We've made some progress this season but tonight we took two steps back."
The Lumberjacks finished the night shooting 41-of-66 (.621), including a 12-of-23 (.522) performance from beyond the arc, while Lamar was 24-of-48 (.500). The Cards were also hurt by 19 turnovers. SFA converted Lamar's mistakes into 21 points. SFA turned the ball over only eight times on the night.
SFA jumped out to a 22-9 first half lead and knocked down 11 more field goals than Lamar in the opening half and took a 54-32 advantage into the locker room. The Cardinals didn't have an opening-half answer for an SFA squad that shot 60 percent from the field (21-of-35) in the first half including a 9-of-13 (.692) effort from beyond the arc.
Despite the double-digit advantage, Lamar managed to cut the deficit down to nine points following an Anthony Holliday three-pointer. Following the three, the Lumberjacks outscored Lamar, 27-14, to close out the half
The Cardinals also turned the ball over 13 times in the opening half, which SFA converted into 10 points.
The Cardinals were led by junior Quan Jones in the opening 20 minutes who scored 10 points, as the Cards finished the half 10-of-22 (.455) from the field, and 3-of-7 (.420) from beyond the three-point arc. Jared Johnson led three SFA players in double figures with 13 points heading into the intermission.
The Cardinals opened the second half connecting on six of their first 11 attempts (.545) but was unable to make a run because SFA never cooled off. The `Jacks picked up where they left off in the first knocking down 11 of their first 16 (.688) pushing their advantage to 31 points with 11:32 remaining in the contest. SFA pushed its lead to 37 points before the final tally was set.
Senior Tyran de Lattibeaudiere led Lamar with 22 points, while Jones finished with 17 points. Freshman Kevin Booze added 16.
Johnson led the `Jacks with 21 points, while Thomas Walkup added 18.
The Cardinals return to action Saturday when they return home to host Incarnate Word. The game against the Cardinals is slated to begin at 6 p.m. from the Montagne Center.
-LAMAR-
