ABILENE — ACU men's basketball welcomed the regular season Southland Conference champions, SFA, to Moody Coliseum on Tuesday night in what was a matchup of the top two seeds in the conference rankings. The Lumberjacks brought a 13-game win streak into the game while the Wildcats were on a seven-game win streak of their own. In front of one of the most raucous crowds Moody has seen this season, ACU brought the energy and effort against one of the top teams in the country. The Wildcats held a four-point advantage at the half, but the 'Jacks defense was too much in the second as they pulled away for their 14
th-straight win, 77-72.
Southland Significance
SFA had already locked down the top-seed in Katy, but this loss puts the Wildcats into a tie for second with Nicholls. If the two teams remain tied at the end of the season, Nicholls will have the edge over ACU for the two-seed in the tournament.
Key Plays
- The Wildcats opened the game 6-2, forcing the ball inside and getting buckets from Hayden Howell and Clay Gayman.
- Airion Simmons immediately made an impact when he checked into the game grabbing two rebounds and making a layup in his first minute of action.
- Kolton Kohl had back-to-back dunks early in the first half to help push the Wildcat lead to seven.
- Simmons once again had Moody on their feet with a steal and monster dunk on the other end that gave the Wildcats their largest lead of the night at 29-19.
- SFA closed the first half on a 16-10 run that cut the ACU lead to four.
- The Wildcats turned the ball over four times in a four-minutes stretch that allowed SFA to stretch their lead to 15 points.
- After going down 15, the Wildcats went on a 13-4 run that brought the SFA lead back down to just six points.
- Tobias Cameron made a clutch layup and two free throws late that helped keep ACU within reach of SFA.
Turning Point
SFA used a 17-6 run over a four-minute stretch early in the second half to take a 15-point lead that the Wildcats were unable to overcome.
Stat Pack
- With Joe Pleasant out due to an injury, senior Hayden Howell got the start in his place scoring eight points and grabbing four rebounds.
- After holding SFA to just 40 percent shooting in the first half, ACU allowed the 'Jacks to shoot over 54 percent from the field in the second half.
- There were a total of 26 missed free throws in the game, including a 25-44 mark from SFA.
- Payten Ricks was held scoreless from beyond the arc, but totaled eight points of 2-4 shooting from short distance and went 4-4 at the line.
- Airion Simmons was a force of nature once again for ACU scoring eight points while grabbing a team-high nine rebounds to go along with three steals and one assist.
- Clay Gayman led the team with 17 points, 16 of those points coming in the first half.
- After committing just six turnovers in the first half, the Wildcats turned the ball over 10 times in the second half.
- SFA just edged the Wildcats in points in the paint, 38-36, while ACU dominated in bench scoring, 32-15.
Up Next
The Wildcats head on the road for their final regular game of the season this weekend. ACU will make the quick trip to San Antonio for a matchup against UIW at 4:15 p.m. Saturday afternoon.
