Stephen F. Austin

March 3, 2005

REGULAR SEASON FINALE: The Lumberjacks close out the 2004-05 season Friday night at home against the Indians of UL-Monroe in a game that has postseason implications for the 'Jacks. With a win, SFA could find itself in the final spot in the O'Reilly Southland Conference Postseason Tournament, while a loss would end any hopes of a fourth straight appearance in the tournament field. SFA needs a win over UL-Monroe coupled with a loss by UT-Arlington to qualify for eight team field. The Lumberjacks enter play having lost two straight road games after holding leads late in each contest. The 'Jacks fell 69-65 Tuesday night to UT-San Antonio after holding an eight point lead with five minutes to play only to falter down the stretch and find themselves in position of needing a little help to qualify for the postseason field. Friday's game with UL-Monroe is the final home game for five seniors who will be honored during Senior Day activities prior to the game.

THE LAST GAME: SFA dropped its fourth straight road game and second straight overall Tuesday night in San Antonio, 69-65. The 'Jacks played a great first half, building a 12-point halftime lead and stretched the lead to 15 early in the second half but couldn't hang on as UT-San Antonio shot a sizzling 81.3 percent from the field (13-16) after halftime and went to the free throw line 18 times in the second half to erase the lead. The Lumberjacks had a 64-54 lead with 6:36 to play following a three pointer by Scott Weaver but were outscored 15-1 for the remainder of the game to drop the contest. SFA was 0-8 down the stretch and committed four of their 11 turnovers in the game during the drought. G Josh Porter led four Lumberjacks in double figures with 13 points with F Hank Rivers and F Anthony Paez adding 11 each and G Leonard Brown also chipping in 10. Paez did not score in the second half and Brown had only three points after the break as SFA was outscored 39-23 in the second half of play.

VS. THE OPPONENT: UL-Monroe holds a 28-15 edge in the series, but SFA has won five of the last six meetings between the two teams including a 67-59 win over the Indians earlier this year in Monroe. SFA is 4-0 against the Indians in Nacogdoches under Danny Kaspar. See the box of game one this season on page 12 of this release.

THE OPPONENT: UL-Monroe enters Friday season finale at 7-18 (1-13) on the year. The Indians have lost 14 of their 15 games and six straight. UL-Monroe is being outscored by an average of almost seven points per game. The Indians are next to last in shooting percentage in the SLC (.423) and also next to last in field goal percentage defense, allowing opponents to shoot an average of 46.2 percent from the field. Cecil Hood leads the team in scoring averaging 9.9 points per game with DeAndre Alexander adding 9.4 ppg. Alexander also leads the Indians on the boards with a 7.5 rpg average. For the year, UL-Monroe has outrebounded its opponents by an average of 1.5 rebounds per game, but has been outrebounded by almost three rebounds per game in SLC play.

THE COACHES: The Lumberjacks are coached by Danny Kaspar (295-115) in his fifth year with the Lumberjacks. Kaspar is 76-63 at SFA. The fifth year head coach can move past Ned Fowler into fifth place on the all-time wins list with three more wins. UL-Monroe is coached by Mike Vining (400-300) in his 24th season with the Indians. He picked up career win number 400 earlier this year with a win over Nicholls State.

UP NEXT: A win Friday could put SFA in the O'Reilly Southland Conference Postseason Tournament for the fourth straight year. First round games are set to begin Tuesday, March 8 at campus sites. The top four seeds host first round games. ™