Jacks Drop OT Heartbreaker to Tulsa in NIT Opening Round

Tuesday, March 17

Tulsa, Okla.

8:00 PM

Stephen F. Austin

28-6,20-2Southland

Tulsa

27-7,13-5American

OT 1

SFA

Tulsa

Photo by: Elysa Ripley

Jacks Drop OT Heartbreaker to Tulsa in NIT Opening Round

3/18/2026 1:48:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

SFA led by a dozen with 6:41 to play, unable to close it out in regulation, OT

TULSA, Okla. – Stephen F. Austin battled blow-for-blow against top-seeded Tulsa on Tuesday night inside the Reynolds Center and dictated the pace for much of the second half, but the Jacks were unable to close out the contest in the opening round of the NIT as the Golden Hurricane rallied back to claim an 89-84 victory in overtime.

Keon Thompson delivered 27 points on 12-of-18 shooting, and added six rebounds, five assists and two steals, while in the process became the program's single-season scoring leader. Narit Chotikavanic scored 17 points behind five made threes and added five rebounds and two steals. Gediminas Alisas produced 14 points as he did not miss from the floor, while Lateef Patrick followed with a dozen points and seven rebounds.

In the bonus period, Thompson scored the first two buckets of overtime as the Jacks jumped out to an 80-76 lead 70 seconds in. Tulsa cut it to a single point before Patrick scored with the right hand to push the lead back to three. Jerald Colonel delivered a big block to preserve the lead and then two possessions later slammed an assist by Thompson for an 84-81 advantage with 93 seconds remaining.

Tulsa converted a pair of free throws and then sank only its ninth three-pointer of the game to grab an 86-84 lead with 46 seconds to play. SFA missed a pair of free throws with 25 seconds left and a second chance three was off the mark before the Golden Hurricane survived the Jacks by making three of four from the stripe in the final 22 seconds.

Patrick helped send the Jacks into the overtime session by clutching up for three free throws with two seconds left after being fouled on a late three-point attempt. The Jacks led by a dozen with a little under seven minutes to play, but Tulsa used a 11-0 run to pull with a point with 2:53 remaining. The Jacks suffered through a scoreless stretch that lasted over four minutes before Chrishawn Christmas knocked in a pair of free throws to end the drought, but SFA missed its last eight attempts from the floor through the clock stoppage with 27.8 to play and was unable to sink a FG in the final 6:31 of action in regulation.

History was made at the 11:50 mark of the second half as Thompson finished cleanly on a drive to the rack and in the process surpassed Thomas Walkup's single-season scoring record.

The Jacks were the first to 40 as Thompson picked up a steal and finished in transition. Moments later, Kam Burton made good on an attempt from three as Patrick delivered a cross-court pass following a Miles Barnstable miss.

SFA produced a strong start out of the second half as a second-chance three from Burton capped a 7-0 run in less than a minute of play which was part of a 9-1 start through a Tulsa timeout and a 13-4 run out of the intermission which spanned 4:35 of play to the first media stoppage.

Alisas, who was perfect in seven attempts, quieted the Reynolds Center faithful with a basket, but moments later the Golden Hurricane were granted a continuation on a near-obvious foul on the floor which cut the Jacks lead to five at 54-49.

Despite Tulsa grabbing five offensive rebounds and producing eight shots through the first 2:30 of play, and seven more through the under-16, the Jacks carried a 10-9 advantage into the first media stoppage as back-to-back threes from Patrick and Chotikavanic gave SFA the lead.

Thompson's first field goal attempt of the night ended a four-minute scoring drought for the Jacks out of the first media as the host moved back out front 16-12 at the under-12 break. The Jacks defended well over the first eight minutes as the Golden Hurricane shot just 25% from the floor but managed to sit at +10 on second-chance points behind a +4 effort on offensive glass and in overall rebounding.

Tulsa put together a 7-0 run over 2:35 of play as the Jacks hit a tough stretch shooting just 1-of-12 from the floor, before a three ball from Chotikavanic pulled the Jacks back to within seven points of the Golden Hurricane advantage. Thompson scored on a second-chance dish from Patrick and the latter hammered a triple try as SFA put together an 8-0 run over 1:39 of play in response. After Tulsa snapped the brief run, Chotikavanic sank another three to pull SFA to within a point of the Golden Hurricane advantage.

The Jacks tied it at 26 as Alisas drove hard inside and finished with the right-handed soft hook off glass. Christmas put the Jacks back out front as goaltending was called on the host and Alisas added two more buckets as SFA put together a 6-for-7 stretch from the floor moments before forcing a shot clock violation which prompted the under-4 media with the contest even at 32.

The final 70 seconds of the first half saw Chotikavanic hit a three for a 35-34 lead on an assist by Thompson before the latter scored twice inside to give the Jacks a three-point lead at the intermission.

POSTGAME NOTES

With 27 points, Thompson surpassed Lumberjack legend Thomas Walkup's single-season scoring record of 613 points and caps the 2025-26 season with a new program scoring standard of 629 points
Thompson matched his career-high with a dozen shots made
Colonel produced four blocks, his ninth game with 4+ this season, to finish with 87 in his final collegiate season
The Jacks grabbed a season-high 13 steals
SFA sank 10 three-point shots marking the 15^th time this season the squad hit that mark as the '25-26 Jacks finished with a program record 302 made three-pointers
Tulsa shot 25 more free throws than the Jacks making 32 of their 41 attempts from the stripe; the most makes and attempts by an SFA opponent this season
SFA held Tulsa to just nine makes in 33 attempts from downtown. The Golden Hurricane entered shooting 38% from range, but converted just 27% on Tuesday

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