Box Score

NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Matt Kingsley scored a game-high 21 points, including the first 10 points in the second half, as Stephen F. Austin built a 19-point lead and held on to defeat a cold-shooting Southeastern Louisiana team, 45-38, in a Southland Conference game Saturday at Johnson Coliseum.

Nick Shaw grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds as SFA (17-7, 9-3 SLC) pulled away from a 21-16 halftime lead and improved to 11-0 at home. Southeastern, which missed its first 12 shots of the second half and went 6:26 without a point to start the second half, fell to 9-16 overall and 3-9 in the SLC.

Southeastern, which dropped its sixth straight contest, finished 15-for-52 (29 percent) from the floor and 8-for-32 (25 percent) in the second half. Warrell Span and Brandon Fortenberry scored 11 points each to pace the Lions.

The Lions opened the game with a 7-4 run as Chris Cyprian hit a jumper with 16:03 remaining in the first half. SFA responded with a 9-0 run, capped by a Kingsley bucket that gave the Lumberjacks a 13-7 lead that would stand for the rest of the game.

SFA built a 21-12 lead in a layup by Walt Harris with 5:13 left, but the Lions scored on a jumper by Damon Forest and a jumper by Span to pull to within 21-16 at the break.

Kingsley, who finished 9-for-15 from the floor and grabbed 10 rebounds to record his sixth double-double of the season, hit a pair of jumpers in the second half before converting on two three-point plays to push the SFA lead to 31-16.

The Lumberjacks extended their lead to 36-17 on a jumper by Kingsley with 11:28 left before Southeastern mounted a comeback.

A putback by Fortenberry with 2:38 remaining cut the SFA lead to 42-35, but Girod Adams sank three free throws down the stretch to lift the Lumberjacks to the victory.

SFA finished 18-for-47 (38 percent) from the floor and committed 18 turnovers. Southeastern registered 16 steals in the game with Span and Deshawn Patterson recording four each.

Southeastern returns to action on Wednesday when it plays host to SLC West leader Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in a 7 p.m. contest at the University Center.

SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA (9-16, 3-9 SLC)
Span 5-10 0-2 11; Fortenberry 4-8 1-2 11; Sullivan 3-10 2-3 8; Forest 2-12 0-0 4; Cyprian 1-4 1-2 3; Tibbs 0-1 1-2 1; Pope 0-3 0-0 0; Ndoumba 0-0 0-0 0; Patterson 0-3 0-0 0; Burches 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 15-52 5-11 38.

STEPHEN F. AUSTIN (17-7, 9-3 SLC)
Kingsley 9-15 3-4 21; Adams 2-6 3-4 7; Bell 2-4 0-1 6; Akpan 2-2 0-0 4; Harris 1-2 0-0 2; Z. Williams 1-4 0-0 2; E. Williams 1-4 0-0 2; Alexander 0-6 1-2 1; Shaw 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 18-47 7-11 45.

Halftime – SFA 21, SLU 16. 3-point goals – SLU 3-15 (Fortenberry 2-4; Span 1-2; Forest 0-6; Cyprian 0-2; Patterson 0-1), SFA 2-12 (Bell 2-3; Adams 0-2; Harris 0-1; Alexander 0-5; Shaw 0-1). Fouled out - None. Rebounds – SLU 32 (Span 8), SFA 39 (Shaw 19). Assists – SLU 6 (Patterson, Fortenberry 2), SFA 9 (E. Williams 3). Total Fouls – SLU 14, SFA 9. Technical fouls - None. A – 2,836.