Stephen F. Austin
UL-Monroe*
'Jacks Drop Season Finale, 70-61 to ULM
3/4/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 4, 2005
NACOGDOCHES, Texas -- Five SFA seniors closed out their Lumberjack career Friday night with a season ending loss to UL-Monroe, 70-61 in the William R. Johnson Coliseum in front of 1,532 fans. The loss extended SFA's losing streak to three straight to close out the year and put the wraps on a 12-15, 6-10 season.
SFA held a halftime lead for the third straight game but couldn't hang on as UL-Monroe shot 58.3 percent (14-24) and went 11-13 at the free throw line to erase the Lumbejack lead and pick up only their second conference win of the season. The 'Jacks built their first half lead after connecting on 13-of-21 first half shots (.619), but saw that percentage dip to .417 (10-24) in the second half of play as the Indians mounted the comeback.
Marcus Clark led the Lumberjacks with 14 points with Leonard Brown adding 12 and Anthony Paez chipping in 10 for the 'Jacks. Taylor Moore ended his career with seven points and seven boards to lead the Lumberjacks on the glass. SFA outrebounded the Indians 33-15 for the game and outscored ULM 17-2 on second chance points.
SFA went scoreless for a 5:17 stretch of the second half which allowed ULM to build an eight point lead, 49-41 with 8:29 to play before Paez ended eith drought with a short jumper to pull within six. ULM quickly re-built the lead to 10 points and SFA was able to trim it to five points on a three-pointer by Josh Porter with 4:27 to play, but couldn't get any closer as the Indians answered each challenge with a basket of their own.
The loss dropped SFA to 8-5 at home for the year, the most home losses by the 'Jacks in three seasons. SFA entered the year with a 31-game home court win streak.
