SFA Earns Second Consecutive Bid to NCAA with Tournament Title - Mar 15, 2015

The Lumberjacks will put on their dancing shoes once again.

Stephen F. Austin defeated its rival Sam Houston State for the third time this season, downing the Bearkats 83-70 at Merrell Center on Saturday to win their second straight Men's Basketball Tournament title and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Conference Player of the Year Thomas Walkup (6'4''-G/F) scored 24 points en route to earning the tourney's Most Valuable Player honors. Walkup also added eight rebounds and five assists as SFA (29-4) defeated Sam Houston State (25-8) for the 11th straight time, including consecutive victories in the conference title game.

"I'm excited just for the fact that we can go back and be on the big stage and be able to grow the name Stephen F. Austin and try to build our legacy," said Walkup. "Individual awards happen when you win as a team. I happened to have a good game tonight."

While the Bearkats have gone 49-19 over the past two seasons, the fact that six of their losses have come to their Piney Woods rivals leaves a stinging feeling. Sam Houston State coach Jason Hooten - who sat center Michael Holyfield (6'11''-C) during the regular-season finale against the Lumberjacks last week - started his 6'11 center, a move that had paid dividends in the early going.

"As a coach, I think that when you know that you've tried everything you can try and someone beats you three times, then they're just better than you," said Hooten. "It's hard to deal with."

The Lumberjacks trailed 25-24 with 5:16 left in the first half before closing out on a 13-2 run that was capped off by Tanner Clayton (6'9''-F)'s 40-foot buzzer beater that banked off the glass to give SFA a 37-27 lead at intermission. They kept the pressure on the Bearkats to open the second half and took a 51-35 lead with 14:26 left.

"That was a huge run," said SFA coach Brad Underwood . "We talk about the first four minutes of the half and the last four minutes of the half. To have that half-court shot go in and then have the possession to start the second half, that is very rare in basketball to have two consecutive possessions without them touching it.

"Our run was basically our defense that secured some defensive rebounds that allowed us to get out and run."

Sam Houston State was unable to recover from the spurt, and while the Bearkats kept within shouting distance for much of the second half, they were never able to put together enough of a run to counter SFA. Much of that was due to their inability to find the basket, as they shot just 36.1 percent from the field.

"We could've played better," said Hooten. "We went 3-for-20 (15 percent) from the 3-point line, and if we could have had some of those go in during that stretch when they got up 16 points, it would have been a different game."

SFA, which advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament before losing to UCLA, may not be on the map of many college basketball pundits, yet Underwood feels the opportunity is there to make a bigger impact.

"The national spotlight is going to bring some attention, but what I talk about every day is trying to grow the program," he said.

Walkup was one of four Lumberjacks in double figures, as fellow SFA all-tournament selection Jared Johnson (6'0''-PG) had 17 points, while Dallas Cameron (6'3''-G) had 14 and Jacob Parker (6'6''-F) finished with 11. Holyfield led Sam Houston State with 18 points to go along with 12 rebounds and four blocked shots, while Kaheem Ransom (6'1''-PG) had 16, Jamal Williams (6'4''-G) had 12 and Jabari Peters (6'4''-G) scored 11.

Walkup and Johnson were joined on the all-tournament team by Sam Houston State's Holyfield and Peters and Northwestern State's Zeek Woodley.

SFA lost backup forward Bobby King (6'7''-F) to a knee injury in the first half.

Courtesy of Southland Conference

Southland Conf. Tournament Final: Stephen F. Austin - Sam Houston State 83-70
Southland Conf. Tournament Semifinals:
Stephen F. Austin - Northwestern State 91-79
Sam Houston State - A&M-Corpus Christi 70-67