NACOGDOCHES, TX (Press Release)- Turning back the clock some 41 years, intercollegiate basketball returned to Shelton Gymnasium for the first time since 1974 and at the end of the day, the result was exactly the same as so many were from 1951-74 ? a win for the Stephen
F Austin men?s basketball team. {{more}}
A grand total of four SFA players put in 10 or more points with Ty
Charles? career-best tying 22 serving as a team-high and the ?Jacks held Our Lady of the Lake over 40 points below its season average in a 95-56 victory over the Saints in Shelton Gym on Saturday evening.
Taking part in their final Nacogdoches tilt of the 2015 calendar year, SFA stirred up a number of happy Shelton Gymnasium memories from years past by securing the team?s first triumph in the facility in over four decades. Some 635 ‘Jack backers packed into the old-timey barn to witness the win – some of who fondly remembered SFA’s NAIA glory days.
?I hope it was fun for everybody in attendance,? said SFA?s third-year head coach Brad Underwood. ?I was extremely pleased with our start, and with he fact that we held them to six threes and 28-percent shooting. We forced 23 turnovers and only turned the ball over twice in the second half. When you can rack up 25 assists against 12 turnovers against a team who likes to run, you?ll take that any day.?
Of those 25 helpers, Trey Pinkney ? who walked across the stage to receive his degree in SFA?s winter commencement ceremony earlier in the day ? and Dallas Cameron each passed out a team-high five.
Pulling into Nacogdoches with a two-game winning streak in tow ? including a 99-97 victory over Incarnate Word earlier in the week ? the Saints saw the valve on their high-octane offense get kinked up by an inspired defensive effort by the ?Jacks. Averaging 99.6 points per game entering the contest, Our Lady of the Lake was held to just 23 first-half markers on 7-for-30 (23.3-percent shooting).
In total, the ?Jacks connected on 50.7-percent (34-for-67) of their field goal tries in the blowout victory. Senior Clide Geffrard secured his second double-double in as many outings, scoring 11 points and grabbing a game-best 10 of SFA?s 47 rebounds.
Joe Jackson led the way for the Saints with a 20-point, 10-rebound performance.
At no point in the ?Jacks final home contest of 2015 did the home team find itself behind, andTy Charles created the first highlight-reel worthy play in Shelton Gym in over four decades with his steal and subsequent fast-break jam just 1:13 into the bout.
The sophomore out of Kennedale, Texas, tallied five of his seven first-half points in the opening 1:13 before delegating the next round of offensive responsibilities to senior Demetrious Floyd. Scoring four of the next six SFA points in a layup and a jumper, the St. Louis, Mo., native would end up finishing with 13 points.
Geffrard made some Shelton Gym history with 3:17 left in the second half when he hit the first-ever SFA three-pointer in the facility which pushed the ?Jacks lead to 33-17. The long ball was not introduced to collegiate basketball until 1986 ? some 12 years after SFA had vacated the facility.
Four of the ?Jacks first 10 points in the last 20 minutes came off the half of freshman TJ Holyfield with the freshman?s first layup of the frame giving SFA its first 20-point lead of the night. Following a slow start, the Albuquerque, N.M., freshman came on exceptionally strong in the deciding frame by netting all 11 of his points on 5-for-6 shooting.
In the closing 1:15 of the tilt, junior JaQuan Smith made his Lumberjack debut and finished with four points on 2-for-2 shooting. He was one of 11 SFA players who notched points in the win.
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