NACOGDOCHES, Texas— The Wildcats traveled to face the first-place Lumberjacks of SFA on Wednesday night hoping to knock off the top team in the Southland. Despite several early turnovers, ACU was able to keep pace with the Jacks and led by as many as five in the first half. The team went into halftime trailing by just one point, but SFA opened the second half on a 10-2 run to push their lead to nine. The SFA defense kept the Wildcats' offense out of sorts and the Lumberjacks came away with a 71-61 win.
Key Plays
- ACU forced turnovers on two of the first three SFA possessions.
- The Wildcats turned the ball over on three of their first six possessions, leading to four fastbreak points for SFA.
- Coryon Mason hit a three to give the Wildcats a one-point lead with 13 minutes left to play in the first half.
- Airion Simmons got a steal and a transition layup to give ACU their largest lead of the game, five points, with 11 minutes left in the first half.
- ACU turned the ball over on three straight possessions, allowing SFA to turn a two-point deficit into a two-point lead.
- SFA's Harris opened the second half with a dagger three to extend their lead.
- Reggie Miller hit a three with just under 15 minutes to play, cutting the SFA lead to four. The Wildcats would not be able to get any closer than seven points after this.
- A three from Clay Gayman gave ACU life and cut the SFA lead to seven point with just under two minutes to play, but the Lumberjacks answered with their own three to seal the game.
Turning Point
Over the last four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half, SFA went on a 20-6 run that saw a five-point ACU lead turn into a nine-point SFA lead. The Wildcats totaled six turnovers in that time.
Stat Pack
- Coryon Mason led the team with 17 points on 5-7 shooting.
- The Wildcats totaled a season-high 27 turnovers leading to 28 points off of turnovers for SFA.
- Kolton Kohl (12) and Joe Pleasant (10) each totaled double-digit points for the Wildcats.
- SFA outscored ACU 28-19 on points off of turnovers as well as 18-6 on fastbreak points.
- After holding opponents below 30 percent shooting from deep on the season, SFA shot almost 54 percent from three-point range.
- Kohl had a season-high three blocks.
Up Next
The Wildcats return home on Saturday, Feb. 1, to host the Cardinals of UIW. The game is set to tip at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+.
