Jan. 12 Men's SLC Basketball Report

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Jan 12 Scores:

At McNeese State 67, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 59

LAKE CHARLES, La. - McNeese State took advantage of its bench here Saturday as the Cowboys opened Southland Confernce play by turning back defending champion TAM-Corpus Christi 67-59 in basketball action.

The Cowboy bench scored 35 points in the game and made other considerable contributions in the victory which lifted McNeese’s record to 7-6 on the season.

Freshman Stephan Martin came off the bench and led all scorers with 16 points while Diego Kapelan, also off the bench, scored 11 points. Senior Al Wardell also came off the bench and helped out by taking late charges while pulling a pair of rebounds, dishing out an assist and making a steal.

"I thought that we really played well," head coach Dave Simmons said of the Cowboys. "I thought that going in we were going to play well. You can’t say enough about the guys who came off the bench and made such a big contribution.

"Stephan had a big game and so did Al. I thought that John Ford did a great job of leading the team, Jarvis (Bradley) played tough and got physical when it was needed and Kleon (Penn) neutralized big Chris (Daniels)."

Martin, one of the leading prep scorers in the state last year, was six of seven from the floor including a four for four effort from three point range. He was also two for two at the line.

The Islanders, now 3-11 on the season, jumped off to a 10-4 lead and held a 12-10 edge with 11:43 left in the first half.

McNeese took its first lead at 13-12 with 10:13 left and did not trail again. The Cowboys were up 25-20 at the end of the half, Ford getting nine of his game total of 11 points in that period.

McNeese outscored A&M-Corpus Christi 42-39 in the second half, making 57.1 percent of its shots from the floor, 66.7 from three point range and 92.3 from the free throw line. The Cowboys were 12 of 13 at the line in the second half.

Also scoring in double figures for McNeese was Bradley with 10 points. He also pulled a team high six rebounds.

Daniels, the Islanders’ seven foot returning SLC player of the year, led his team with 14 points and 11 rebounds but he was kept in check for most of the night by the Cowboys’ 6-11 Penn whoe finished with five points and a pair of blocked shots before fouling out.

Also for the Islanders, Justin Reynolds and Kevin Perkins both scored 11 points.

At Sam Houston State 61, Nicholls State 51

HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Shamir McDaniel scored 14 points to lead Sam Houston State to a 61-51 Southland Conference men’s basketball victory over Nicholls State at Johnson Coliseum Saturday night.

After Nicholls State scored the game’s opening basket, the Bearkats went on a 12-0 run to go up 10 points. The Bearkats never trailed again.

Sam Houston State (13-2, SLC 1-1) out-rebounded the Colonels 43-24 and hit 22-of-52 for 42.3 percent from the field. Reggie Rawlins added 12 points for the Bearkats.

Nicholls State (6-11, SLC 1-1) was led by Anatoly Bose with 10 points and seven rebounds.

The Colonels cut the Bearkats’ lead to six points, 17-11, with 7:36 left in the first half, but Sam Houston responded with a 17-5 run to go up by 18, 34-16 at intermission.

The Bearkats led by 21 points, 56-35, with 7:04 to play. Nicholls cut the maring to nine points, 60-51, with 1:16 to play on a layup by K J Lee, but the Colonels could come no closer.

Stephen F. Austin 48, at Southeastern La. 45

HAMMOND, La. - Junior center Matt Kingsley broke out of a brief scoring slump with a game-high 17 points Saturday, as Stephen F. Austin held on for a 48-45 win at Southeastern Louisiana. The narrow victory comes on the heels of a one-point overtime loss in SFA's Southland Conference opener and evens the Lumberjacks' league record at 1-1, while improving their season mark to 13-2.

The Lumberjacks weathered a scoreless drought from the field over the game's final 10 minutes to hold off the Lions. Kingsley hit three free throws during the dry spell to provide some of the only offense of the stretch, and senior guard Gerald Fonzie added a foul shot with seven seconds left to set the final margin, and Chris Cyprian's last-second 3-point attempt rattled off the rim.

Fonzie scored 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field, including a 3-for-5 effort from 3-point range to join Kingsley in double figures. Junior forward Josh Alexander failed to break double figures in scoring for just the third time this season, finishing with six points. But Alexander pulled down 11 rebounds, marking his second straight game with double-figure boards. For the game, Kingsley hit 6-of-10 from the field and went 5-for-6 from the stripe.

SFA scored the first points of the game and never trailed in the first half, leading by as many nine points. The Lumberjacks took a 28-21 lead to the locker room despite a scoring drought that covered the final 4:43 of the half. SFA held its edge by playing solid defense and beating one of the SLC's best rebounding teams on the boards. The Lumberjacks outrebounded Southeastern, 18-14, in the first period, including a 7-2 edge on the offensive glass, and forced six Lion turnovers.

Kingsley got going early, hitting 4-for-6 from the floor to finish the opening frame with 10 points. That marked the sixth time this season for Kingsley to reach double digits in scoring in the first half. He had not scored more than four points in the opening period in any of the previous three games, leading up to Saturday's showdown.

Alexander finished the first half with just two points after going 0-for-5 from the field, but his seven first-half rebounds led all players.

The Lumberjacks will next take the court Thursday, Jan. 17, when they host Lamar in their Southland Conference home opener. The game is set for a 7 p.m. start and will be followed on Saturday by a 6 p.m. meeting with McNeese State.

At Lamar 81, UTSA 56

BEAUMONT, Texas – Currye Todd and Darren Hopkins combined for 31 points and seven 3-pointers off the bench as Lamar University used a 19-2 second-half run to defeat UTSA, 81-56, in the Southland Conference opener for both teams.

With the Roadrunners holding a 36-35 lead two minutes into the second half, Justin Nabors ignited the aforementioned run with the first of two thunderous dunks on the night. Following a Lamar Sanders tip-in, Kenny Dawkins and Hopkins followed with consecutive 3-pointers to push the Lamar advantage to 45-36 with 14:19 left. A Sanders three-point play and buckets from Hopkins and two more from Dawkins made it a 16-point lead approaching the 10-minute mark.

Add to the fact that Travis Gabbidon, the Roadrunners’ leading scorer entering the game, left with an injury with just over 16 minutes to play. He tried to return three minutes later but play was stopped after just 10 seconds as he was unable to play through obvious pain. He finished with 10 points – four under his average.

Lamar (7-7, 1-0 SLC) won its SLC lid-lifter for the second-straight season and improved to 36-21 all-time in conference openers, including a 22-4 mark in openers played in Beaumont. The Cardinals were 10-of-19 on 3-pointers for a season-high 52.6 percent. LU’s 35 bench points were its fourth-most all year. LU also outscored UTSA 36-12 in the paint.

Todd led four Cardinals in double-figures with 16 points, followed by 15 each from Hopkins and Lamar Sanders and Matthew Barrow’s 14. Sanders had eight rebounds, while Kenny Dawkins handed out a season-high eight assists to go along with nine points.

UTSA (6-8, 0-1 SLC) got 17 points on five 3-pointers from Joey Shank and 10 points and 13 boards from Keith Spencer. The Roadrunners shot just 38 percent in the second half and committed 19 turnovers.

Lamar led 35-31 at the half following an opening 20 minutes that saw seven ties and seven lead changes. The Cardinals closed the half on a 6-1 run following a pair of Gabbidon free throws that had given the Roadrunners a 30-29 lead with 1:57 to play.

Lamar will hit the road for three of its next four, beginning with a Thursday night battle at Stephen F. Austin (13-2, 1-1 SLC). Tip-off at the Johnson Coliseum in Nacogdoches is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT.

Texas State 78, at Central Arkansas 72

CONWAY, Ark. - Brandon Bush came off the bench in a 5-10 effort from the field, sinking 10-12 free throws in a 21-point showcase to lead the Texas State Bobcats in a 78-72 Southland Conference road victory over Central Arkansas Saturday in Conway, Ark.

In a first half that saw six ties and twelve lead changes Texas State was forced to play a slower-paced game than accustomed. Approaching the first media timeout nearly four minutes into the game, the board remained scoreless until Corey Jefferson broke away for the lay up to give Texas State its first two points.

At 9:08 the `Cats took a 19-17 lead over the host school and held on for nearly five minutes of play. On an assist from Landrell Brewer down the left side of an open court York Sims laid in the easy basket to put UCA ahead by one, 28-27. Matt Fullenwider answered by tipping in a rim-rattler for two points and Bush hit his lone three of the night, giving Texas State a 32-30 lead into the half.

The Texas State charity stripe was left vacant throughout the half, an offset from an 8-12 shooting performance from by Central Arkansas.

The second half began much like the first with Jefferson opening the period with an easy lay up, allowing Texas State to forge ahead to ten point lead over UCA. Brandon Thomas tipped in back-to-back helpers for the final touches for a maroon and white command in Farris Center.

The pace shifted to a familiar swift-tempo game for the `Cats, forcing ten second-half turnovers from the top of the key from a rabid defensive press. A steal by Jefferson four minutes into the final half was finished off with a jumper from Thomas to maintain the ten point lead, 47-37.

It was Jefferson again for three points followed by a free throw brought on by a foul on the next possession to give Texas State an 11-point lead, their largest margin of the game, 51-40.

As ticks fell off the clock in the final minute of play the intensity mounted on the court and in the stands. With a 74-69 deficit lying in the hands of Central Arkansas, Marcus Pillow drained a three-pointer, only the second shot from beyond the arc by UCA all night, to put the Bears in reach of a victory. With 17 seconds on the clock, Bush was fouled and sent to the line to sink consecutive free throws for a 75-72 Texas State advantage. As time fell off the clock the Bears had one last chance, however Pillow's three-point attempt fell short with eight seconds remaining and Central Arkansas was forced to foul. Dylan Moseley sealed the final two free throws to grasp the win.

For the game, the SLC foes were roughly the same across the board with Texas State shooting 41.5 percent from the field to Central Arkansas' even 41. The Bears won the battle of the boards by one, amassing 44 in the contest. Contrastingly, Texas State finished with 51 points off the bench, while UCA managed just five.

Joining Bush off the bench were Moseley and Ryan White for eight and nine points, respectively. Thomas tallied a perfect percentage from the field, going 6-6 for 13 points, his fifth double-figure outing of the season. Jefferson dished out a team-leading five assists and scored 12 points in the victory.

Durrell Nevels scored 20 points for Central Arkansas to lead the team.

The Bobcats return to Strahan Coliseum for a three-game home stand that begins Thursday, Jan. 17. in a 7 p.m. decision with Southeastern Louisiana. Texas State hosts Nicholls State the following Saturday and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Jan. 24.

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Lord what a race this will be!