Lumberjacks Travel To UT-San Antonio
2/28/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 28, 2005
FINAL ROAD TRIP: SFA takes its final regular season road trip Tuesday to San Antonio to take on the UT-San Antonio Roadrunners in what has become a big game for both teams. The Lumberjacks need a win to stay alive for a berth in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Southland Conference Postseason Tournament and UT-San Antonio needs a win to hang on for a possible top four seed in the field and first round home game. The 'Jacks are only 3-8 on the year away from home while the Roadrunners have gone 9-3 for the year at home, including a 7-3 conference record in the Convocation Center. UTSA is coming off a 96-78 home win over the UT-Arlington Mavericks Saturday, a game in which the Roadrunners trailed by two at the half but scored 63 second half points to bury the Mavericks. SFA enters the game following its fourth straight road loss, 64-62 to Northwestern State.
THE LAST GAME: The Lumberjacks fell just two points short of picking up a huge win Saturday over the Demons of Northwestern State, falling 64-62. SFA led for much of the game, but a six minute stretch in the middle of the second half without a field goal allowed Northwestern State back into the game and to eventually take a lead with 7:21 left to play. The teams traded the lead back and forth before Jermaine Wallace hit a three-pointer with 3:43 left which put the Demons up for good. SFA cut the lead to one point three different times down the stretch but couldn't get over the hump against a tough Northwestern State defense. The 'Jacks got one final possession with 17.2 seconds remaining, but a short jumper by Leonard Brown came up short as SFA fell, 64-62. F Hank Rivers posted his fourth double-double of the year with 16 points and 12 rebounds to lead SFA. G Josh Porter added 11 and F Anthony Paez had 10 for the Lumberjacks.
VS. THE OPPONENT: UT-San Antonio leads the series, 15-9. The teams split a pair of games last year with SFA winning a regular season match-up in Nacogdoches, 69-60 and UT-San Antonio taking a 74-70 win over the 'Jacks in the SLC tournament finals in San Antonio. The 'Jacks have won four of the last five meetings between the two teams, but SFA is 2-11 in San Antonio since the Roadrunners joined the SLC prior to the 1991-92 season.
THE OPPONENT: UT-San Antonio is 13-12 (8-6) on the year and has won three of its last four games. The Roadrunners have lost three conference games at home to Southeastern Louisiana (64-53), Sam Houston (72-56) and Lamar (88-83). UTSA has four players averaging in double figures with John Millsap leading the way with 13.5 points per game. Justin Harbert is adding 12.5 ppg, while Raphael Posey at 12.5 and Andre Owens at 11.6 points per game round out those in double figures. Millsap also leads the Roadrunners on the boards, averaging 7.0 rebounds per game. UTSA leads the SLC in rebounding offense and rebounding margin, pulling down 42.2 rebounds per game and outrebounding opponents by an average of 4.9 rpg.
THE COACHES: The Lumberjacks are coached by Danny Kaspar (295-114) in his fifth year with the Lumberjacks. Kaspar is 76-62 at SFA. The fifth year head coach can move past Ned Fowler into fifth place on the all-time wins list with three more wins. UT-San Antonio is coached by Tim Carter (158-150) in his 10th season at UTSA. Carter is 147-134 with the Roadrunners.
UP NEXT: The 'Jacks return home to face UL-Monroe in the final game of the regular season, March 4. TM
