Stephen F. Austin Wins Southland Championship (Photo: southland)

X Regular Season Standings East Division 1. Stephen F. Austin 13-3 23-7 2. Nicholls St. 12-4 20-11 3. SE Louisiana 7-9 13-17 4. Mc Neese St. 5-11 11-18 5. Northwestern St. 3-13 11-20 5. Cent.Arkansas 3-13 10-19 West Division 1. Sam Houston St. 12-4 18-12 2. Texas A&M - C.C. 11-5 18-15 3. Texas Arlington 9-7 16-14 4. UTSA 8-8 19-12 5. Texas St.-San Marcos 7-9 14-16 6. Lamar 6-10 15-15

Stephen F.Austin Univ. 2008-09

Kaspar Kingsley Alexander Bell Williams Shaw 44 Kingsley Matt 6'9'' (206) F 0 Alexander Josh 6'4'' (193) G 1 Bell Eric 5'3'' (160) G 3 Williams Eddie 6'2'' (188) G 12 Shaw Nick 6'6'' (198) F 2 Adams Girod 5'10'' (178) G 21 Smith Aaron 6'8'' (203) F 23 James Cameron 6'1'' (185) G 33 Davis Preston 6'2'' (188) G 55 Scott Jereal 6'7'' (201) F 11 Akpan Benson 6'9'' (206) F 4 Harris Walt 6'5'' (196) G 5 Williams Zach 6'4'' (193) F 10 McDaniel Jarrod 5'7'' (170) G

Matt Kingsley (6'9''-F-86) and the Stephen F. Austin men's basketball team defeated UTSA, 68-57, in the championship game of the 2009 State Farm Southland Conference Basketball Tournament Sunday at the Merrell Center. With the victory, the Lumberjacks clinched their first berth into the Division I NCAA Men's Basketball Championships and became the 15th team in league history to hoist the tournament title trophy.
Leading the Lumberjacks' charge throughout the tournament was Kingsley, a fifth-year senior who finished off his Southland career with a 20-point performance en route to being named the State Farm Southland Conference Basketball Tournament's Most Valuable Player. Also the league's Player of the Year, Kingsley was joined on the All-Tournament Team by fellow Lumberjacks Josh Alexander (6'4''-G-87) and Eddie Williams (6'2''-G-89), UTSA's Devin Gibson (6'0''-G) and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's Kevin Palmer (6'6''-G/F-87).
The final score was in doubt until the final minutes of the game, but Stephen F. Austin never trailed in the second half, building a lead that was as large as 11 points and never fewer than five. And while the Lumberjacks took control of the game in the opening half, it was three back-door cuts in the waning minutes that resulted in a pair of William's layups and a Walt Harris free throw that pushed them over the hump.
Gibson let his emotions pour out throughout the game as he did his best to keep the sixth-seeded Roadrunners in the fray, but not even his game-high 23 points could keep the Lumberjacks from achieving their destiny of becoming first-time entrants into the Big Dance.
The Lumberjacks built their second-half momentum by closing out the first half much like the Roadrunners opened it, red-hot from the field. Stephen F. Austin led 37-28 heading into the break after closing the half on a 20-6 run that culminated with a three-pointer from Walt Harris. Defense was largely to thank during that span as at one point the top-seeded team held the Roadrunners without a point for more than six minutes.
UTSA, which simply could not find the shooting touch late in the half, did have it during the early stages. Gibson led the charge for the Roadrunners, scoring eight of his 13 first-half points around two important steals to give his team a 20-17 lead nine minutes into the game. UTSA stretched its lead to 22-17 on an Omar Johnson (5'7''-G) jumper near the midway point but converted only two field goals for the rest of the half as Stephen F. Austin took charge of the contest.
In addition to Kingsley's 20-pont, six-rebound performance, the Lumberjacks got all-star performances from Alexander and Williams, who each poured in 16 points. Eric Bell (5'3''-G-87) shot only 1-of-4 from the field for four points, but he dished out a 2009 tournament game-high nine assists. For UTSA, only Travis Gabbidon (6'7''-F) joined Gibson in double-digit scoring with 10 points.
Courtesy of southland


Tournament Final: Stephen F. Austin - Texas-San Antonio 68-57
Tournament Semifinals:
Stephen F. Austin - Texas A&M-CC 63-60
Texas-San Antonio - Nicholls State 57-55

Southland Conf. All-Tournament MVP: Matt Kingsley of SFA

Southland Conf. All-Tournament Team
Josh Alexander of SFA
Devin Gibson of UTSA
Eddie Williams of SFA
Kevin Palmer of AMCC
Matt Kingsley of SFA

All-Southland Conf. 1st Team 2008-09

Kingsley Palmer Vereen Bathie Allmond

All-Southland Conf. 1st Team
Matt Kingsley of Stephen F. Austin
Kevin Palmer of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Anthony Vereen (6'7''-F-86) of UT Arlington
Ryan Bathie (6'6''-F-87) of Nicholls State
Corey Allmond (6'1''-G-88) of Sam Houston State

All-Southland Conf. 2nd Team
Marquez Haynes (6'3''-G-86) of UT Arlington
Ashton Mitchell (5'11''-G) of Sam Houston State
Josh Alexander of Stephen F. Austin
Brandon Bush (6'7''-G-86) of Texas State
Kenny Dawkins (5'9''-G-87) of Lamar

All-Southland Conf. 3rd Team
Anatoly Bose (6'6''-G/F-88) of Nicholls State
Travis Gabbidon of UTSA
Devin Gibson of UTSA
Roger Guignard (5'11''-G-87) of UT Arlington
Jay Brown (6'7''-F-86) of Lamar

Southland Conf. Honorable Mention Team
John Pichon (6'6''-F-86) of McNeese State
Patrick Sullivan (6'9''-C-88) of Southeastern Louisiana
Omar Johnson of UTSA
Kleon Penn (6'11''-C-86) of McNeese State
Brandon McThay (5'11''-G-86) of Lamar
Brent Benson (6'1''-G-85) of Texas State
Marcus Pillow (6'0''-G) of Central Arkansas
Barkley Falkner (6'8''-F/C) of Sam Houston State
Justin Reynolds (6'9''-F-88) of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Corey Jefferson (6'0''-G-85) of Texas State

Southland Conf. Player of the Year: Matt Kingsley of Stephen F. Austin
Southland Conf. Freshman of the Year: Fred Hunter (6'5''-G-89) of Nicholls State
Southland Conf. Newcomer of the Year: Kevin Palmer of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Southland Conf. Coach of the Year: J.P. Piper of Nicholls State