NACOGDOCHES, Texas — In what shaped up to be the Wildcats most important game of the season, ACU pulled out the heroics to earn their first win in Nacogdoches since rejoining the Southland. After a loss on the road at UCA, the Wildcats desperately needed a win at SFA to keep their hopes alive for a top-two seed in the tournament.
ACU held the early 9-6 lead, but the Lumberjacks capitalized on a seven-minute scoring drought by the Wildcats and went on a 16-0 run. SFA held as much as a 15-point lead in the first half, but ACU was able to weather the storm and cut the lead to six at the half. The Wildcats kept the game close early in the second half and eventually took their first lead of the second half on a made three from
Airion Simmons. The team was able to push their lead to as many as seven, but the tough defense of the Lumberjacks kept them in the game. It was a tie game with 37 seconds left to play and SFA with the ball. The Wildcats'
Reggie Miller got the late game steal and when he missed an attempt with just under a second remaining,
Kolton Kohl cleaned up the glass and hit the putback for the win.
Late Game Breakdown
Coryon Mason gave the Wildcats a five-point lead with 4:41 left to play in the game, but he injured his ankle coming down from the shot and ACU would have to play the final minutes without him. The Lumberjacks would go on to make five of six free throws in the final minutes to tie the game at 61 with just over a minute left to play. The Wildcats got the ball after the made free throws and SFA played stellar defense, forcing a deep three from
Mahki Morris late in the shot clock and earned the turnover on the shot-clock turnover. On the ensuing possession, SFA tried to get the ball inside to Gavin Kensmil, but once again
Reggie Miller made an outstanding late-game defensive play, knocking the ball out of Kensmil's hands and bringing the ball up the court. Miller got the offensive action going with about eight seconds remaining, driving to his left and attempting a difficult shot in the lane looking for the foul. The rainbow shot went above the defenders but landed right into the waiting hands of
Kolton Kohl who grabbed the board and finished the shot at the buzzer for the win.
Southland Significance
With the win the Wildcats remain in contention for a top-two seed in Katy. The Wildcats would need a loss from either Sam Houston or Nicholls, and a win over UIW on Saturday, to secure a top-two seed. Should both Nicholls and SHSU drop their final games of the regular season, the Wildcats could secure the regular season championship with a win over UIW.
Key Plays
- Joe Pleasant got the scoring started in fashion with a monster dunk on ACU's first possession off an assist from Miller.
- After a Kohl layup gave the Wildcats an 11-8 lead, the Lumberjacks went on a 16-0 run.
- A driving reverse layup from Miller broke the scoring drought for ACU and helped spark a 17-10 run to close the half.
- A steal and fastbreak layup from Tobias Cameron with just over four minutes left in the first half helped to steer momentum to the Wildcats.
- Mahki Morris hit a three with just over a minute left in the first half the cut the SFA lead to just six points.
- Simmons had an offensive rebound and putback while drawing the foul early in the second half. He made the free throw to cut SFA's lead to four.
- Mason completed a three-point play and Simmons made a deep banked-in three on back-to-back possessions that gave ACU their first lead of the second half.
- Simmons made a layup with 10:31 to play that gave the Wildcats their largest lead of the night at seven points.
- After going up by five points with just over four minutes left to play on a layup by Mason, the Wildcats turned the ball over on two of their next three possessions and missed two free throws on a fourth possession that allowed SFA to tie the game late.
Turning Point
ACU closed the first half on a 13-4 run that cut the SFA lead to six points and helped shift momentum back in favor of the Wildcats.
Stat Pack
- Coryon Mason led the Wildcats in scoring with 15 points on 4-7 shooting and going 6-10 at the free throw line.
- Kolton Kohl had 11 points for his 18th double-digit outing of the year.
- There was a total of 51 fouls called in the game and 61 free throw attempts. The teams combined to make just 63 percent of those free throws.
- After allowing SFA to shoot 50 percent from the floor in the first half, ACU held them below 37 percent shooting in the second half and right at 44 percent for the game.
- The teams were even with 28 rebounds each, but the Wildcats held the 7-6 advantage on offensive rebounds.
- Airion Simmons scored 12 big points for ACU off the bench, including a banked in three (reminiscent of his three made at home against SHSU) that gave the Wildcats their first lead of the second half.
- The Wildcats totaled a season-high 24 turnovers that led to 22 points for SFA.
Up Next
The Wildcats will close out the regular season at home against UIW on Saturday. The team will honor their five seniors on Saturday in a ceremony before the start of the game. The women will play first at 1 p.m. with the men following approximately 30 minutes after the end of that game.
