Box Score NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Lamar University had five players in double figures but couldn't overcome a second half run by Stephen F. Austin falling to the Lumberjacks, 95-76, Saturday afternoon at the William R. Johnson Coliseum. The loss snaps the Cards' (16-14/10-9 Southland) four-game win streak.
 
"I didn't feel like we matched their physicality," said LU head coach Tic Price. "Any time you allow a team 95 points on their home floor, you're not going to come away victorious. I thought we did a fairly good job of holding on to the basketball tonight, but we didn't do a good job of sharing the ball offensively and I thought SFA had a lot to do with that."
 
The Cardinals finished the day 28-of-64 (.438) from the field, including eight three-pointers. Big Red was once again strong from the free throw line converting 13-of-16 (.813) attempts. The Cardinals were led in scoring by senior T.J. Atwood's 17 points and 12 rebounds. Sophomore Davion Buster added 16 points, while senior V.J. Holmes netted 14 points. Junior Avery Sullivan and freshman Anderson Kopp both finished the game with 13.
 
Led by 20 points from Kevon Harris, SFA shot better than 52 percent from the field (37-of-70), including 6 three-pointers. The Lumberjacks outrebounded LU, 43-29.
 
SFA started quick from the field knocking down eight of their first 12 attempts but couldn't gain any separation as the Cardinals converted five of their first 10. After falling behind by four the Cardinals got an Atwood three-pointer to cut the Lumberjacks' lead down to one, 12-11, but the Lumberjacks responded by rattling off five straight to push their advantage to six, 17-11. After Tic Price called a timeout, Atwood grabbed an offense rebound and buried a turnaround jumper to stop the SFA run.
 
The Lumberjacks responded by pushing their lead to 10, 27-17, with just over 10 minutes remaining, but LU stopped the run there with consecutive baskets to trim the lead down to six following a Buster jumper in the circle. LU added another basket following a Lumberjack miss to trim the deficit down to four 27-23 with just over nine minutes remaining.
 
The Lumberjacks again pushed their lead back to double digits, but LU rallied by scoring the game's next six points to trim the deficit back to four, 33-29, with less than four to play. Sullivan pulled the Cardinals within two, but SFA responded with a three on the following possession.
 
The Cardinals closed the half by heating up in the final three minutes and went into the locker room hitting 15-of-30 (.500) but were just of 2-of-8 (.250) from long range. The Cardinals were outrebounded by just two, 15-13, in the opening 20 minutes of action.
 
SFA was 15-of-29 (.517) from the field with three triples. The Lumberjacks did the majority of their damage with 22 points in the paint in the game's first 20 minutes. Both teams did a strong job of holding onto the basketball combining for just nine turnovers (only four for LU).
 
SFA opened the second half with a 12-4 run to reclaim a 10-point advantage, but the Cardinals responded similar to how they did in the first by scoring the game's next five points to cut the deficit in half. Unfortunately, LU could get no closer as the Lumberjacks rattled off an 11-3 run to build a 17-point advantage with 8:10 remaining. The Cardinals were never able to trim the deficit back to single digits in the games closing minutes.
 
The Cardinals will be back in action Saturday, Mar. 7^th, when they return to Beaumont to host rival McNeese in the annual Battle of the Border. The game against the Cowboys will tip off at 4:30 p.m. from the Montagne Center. The game will also be broadcast live on Newstalk 560 KLVI.