SFA Ladyjacks rally past Nicholls Colonels to reach semifinals of Southland Tournament

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2026 All Rights Reserved

LAKE CHARLES, LOUISIANA (March 10, 2026)  The defending champion Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks showed why they are tough to beat in the Southland Conference tournament. They came from behind to beat the Nicholls Colonels 63–60 on Tuesday afternoon at the 2026 Air Force Reserve Southland Conference Women’s Basketball Championship.

Nicholls started strong. Led by Sh’Diamond McKnight, the Colonels jumped out to a 17–9 lead after the first quarter. They pushed their advantage to 11 points in the second quarter and took a 29–23 lead into halftime. SFA struggled early, making only 33 percent of their shots in the first half.
The Ladyjacks exploded for 27 points in the third quarter. They played tough defense and pushed the ball fast in transition. Myka Perry and Harmanie Dominguez led the charge. SFA turned their six-point deficit into a 50–46 lead going into the fourth quarter.
The final period was full of excitement. Both teams traded baskets, but SFA kept finding answers. Perry hit a big three-point play late in the third to give her team some space. The Ladyjacks’ defense stepped up with key stops in the closing minutes to hold on for the win.
Myka Perry led SFA with 18 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double. She controlled the boards during the comeback. Key Roseby added 13 points, and Harmanie Dominguez scored 11, including several important shots in the third-quarter run.
McKnight had a game-high 21 points for Nicholls, but SFA limited extra chances in the end.With the victory, the No. 3 seed Ladyjacks move on to the semifinals. They will face No. 2 Lamar on Wednesday at 1 p.m. on ESPN+ in a rematch of last year’s semifinal.

HCU Huskies f all to SFA 50-3 on Homecoming Weekend

Story and photo by Robert H Kelly

Copyright 2025 All Rights Reserved

HOUSTON, TEXAS (November 8, 2025) The HCU Huskies entered their 2025 Homecoming Weekend with plenty of hope, but it turned into a rough afternoon. On Saturday, the Huskies fell 50-3 at home to the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks, ranked No. 17 in the country.

From the first moments, things went wrong. The Lumberjacks forced a punt on Houston Christian’s opening drive and returned it 74 yards for a touchdown. They then converted a two-point try to take an 8-0 lead. They added another score later in the first quarter when quarterback Gavin Rutherford found Isaiah Davis on a 14-yard touchdown pass, giving SFA a 15-0 edge heading into the second quarter.

The Huskies got on the board early in the second when freshman kicker Ryan Zuckert drilled a 45-yard field goal, cutting the lead to 15-3.  But the momentum didn’t last. The Lumberjacks answered quickly with a 17-yard pass to Kylon Harris, and just before halftime, they punched in a short goal-line run to take a 29-3 lead into the break.

In the second half, Houston Christian continued to struggle. Their offense gained just 134 total yards for the entire game.  Starting quarterback Reilly Garcia completed 12 of 19 passes for 132 yards in his first start of the season.  On the ground, the Huskies were held to just 2 rushing yards.  On defense, linebacker Trent Zappe led the team with 10 tackles and Rodney Dansby had nine.

For HCU, the result drops their record to 2-8 overall and 1-5 in the Southland Conference. They’ll need to regroup quickly, as next Saturday they travel to face East Texas A&M Lumberjacks in Commerce with a 4 p.m. kickoff.

SFA placed on probation by the NCAA

Photo by
Darla S Tamulitis,
La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved

By James Jacobs

Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved

HOUSTON TEXAS (May 21, 2020) The SFA Lumberjacks stunned the basketball world last November dropping the number one ranked Duke Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium. On Wednesday, the NCAA felled the Lumberjacks with a three year probation verdict for six years of poor judgement in their academic certification procedures.

Warned back in 2013, the SFA "powers that be" failed to heed the warning and now it has once again cost the student athletes. Not only does it leave a blemish on their accomplishments but athletes in four sports will see their victories taken away; an NCAA tournament win and vacated conference championships.

Ryan Ivey, the school’s athletic director, said the certification errors date back to 2013 and were discovered last spring after the departure of two associate athletic directors who were responsible for rules compliance and academics. 

To be fair, the errors occurred under the guidance of former AD Robert Hill who retired in 2018. Administrators erred by counting all semester credit hours to determine academic eligibility instead of counting only credit hours that led to a degree.

The certification errors affected 82 athletes across football, men’s basketball, baseball, volleyball, softball, women’s golf, men’s and women’s track & field and men’s cross country.

Under the terms of the probation, SFA forfeits most notably its Southland Conference titles for men’s basketball in 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2017-18 and the first-round win in the 2016 NCAA Tournament against West Virginia plus 29 football wins as well as dozens of baseball and softball wins. This in addition to fines and penalties totaling almost $100,000.

In an unprecedented move, the NCAA agreed to postpone the one year basketball probation till the 2012-2022 year so that current juniors would not potentially leave the school and jeopardize their chances of graduatiing. In addition, the team will not forfeit its win over Duke.

In the aftermath of the failures, the school has revamped it certification process and will hire a certification officer who does not work for the athletic department.

The negotiated deal allows the school to avoid a full blown investigation.

HBU falls to SFA, 42-14 in hard-fought Southland Conference contest

Photo by Darla S Tamulitis, La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2018 All Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2018 All Rights Reserved

HOUSTON, TEXAS (October 20, 2018) After battling to a seven-seven tie at the end of the first quarter, the Houston Baptist University Huskies could not maintain their offensive momentum; dropping a 42-14 decision to the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks at Husky Stadium in Houston. In the five seasons the Huskies and SFA have faced off, the Lumberjacks raised their record against the Huskies to 4-1. HBU's lone win over SFA came on November 12, 2016, with a 31-24 final score at Husky Stadium. After HBU tied the score at the 10:10 mark of the first quarter, the Lumberjacks put 21 unanswered points on the scoreboard. With 1:32 left in the third quarter, Quarterback Bailey Zappe connected with Terry Tillmon on an eight-yard pass to cap a three play, 15-yard drive. The touchdown was the third of the season for the junior wide receiver who hails from Dolton, Illinois. The first score for HBU; a 40-yard pass from Zappe to Jerreth Sterns (Waxahachie HS, Midlothhian, Texas) was the his fourth touchdown of the year.

Zappe, who is have a record-setting season, has completed 18 touchdown passes to date, with the 40-yard pass to Sterns being his longest of the year. The sophomore, who played his prep ball at Victoria East (Texas) High School, was 15-of-34 for 143 yards and two touchdowns. LaDarius Dickens caught 20 passes for 95 yards while Sterns caught six passes for 74 yards.

One major highlight of the game was kicker Tyler Blanchard booting an 80-yard punt late in the second quarter. He has punted 21 times in 2018, for 829 yards and averaging 29.5 yards-per-punt. with four of 50 yards or more and seven inside the 20-yard line.

Next up for the Huskies is a October 27 road contest against Northwestern State on Saturday, October 27. The Lumberjacks will take on the Lamar Cardinals at home on the same date. 

Texas Tech comes from behind to down Stephen F. Austin 70-60

Story and Photo by Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2018 All Rights Reserved

DALLAS, TEXAS (March 15, 2018) The No. 3 Texas Tech Red Raiders (25-9) started the game slowly, but came back to life in the final five minutes of the game to down the No. 14 Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks (28-7) by the score of 70-60 in the first round game for both schools at the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament in Dallas. The near capacity crowd at the America Airlines Center saw the Lumberjacks control most of the game, but falter down the stretch. The Red Raiders trailed most of the game, but pulled ahead with 3:59 left in the game with a layup by Keenan Evans (Richardson, Texas). The two points pushed Tech into the lead 59-58 as they went on to outscore the Lumberjacks 11-2 in the final minutes of the game.

Texas Tech shot a paltry 35% (10-of-28) from the field in the first half, allowing SFA to take a 30-27 lead at half time. They improved their shooting percentage to 57% (15-of-26) in the second half while the Lumberjacks, who shot 37% (9-of-24) in the first half did not improve their shooting (9-of 23, 39%) in the second half. Evans tallied 23 points for the Red Raiders while fellow guard Zhaire Evans added 10. SFA had four players in double figures, with Ivan Canete (Lake Worth, Florida) leading the way with 17.

Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard discussed his thoughts after the game with the press.

"First of all, I just want to congratulate Stephen F. Austin for a great season. They were everything we thought they would be and more. Kyle Keller is a great coach. They've got good players. They've got a program is what they have. You go back to Danny Kaspar and certainly Brad Underwood, and now Kyle has taken it to another level. They just forced us into so many things and took away things, but I just wanted to congratulate them on a good season, and I know Kyle is just getting started building the program there. For our guys, we knew we were going to have to play great to win this game because we knew how good Stephen F. Austin was. I'm really pleased for our players that we advanced to the second round, beating a team that we had nothing but respect for."

SFA head coach Kyle Keller also talked with the press after the game.

"I wish we could have ended the game at halftime, obviously, but the game is 40 minutes. I give Texas Tech a tremendous amount of credit. Their Coach Chris Beard, his team embodies his spirit and toughness. And they imposed their will obviously the last 10 minutes or so of the game, and my guys tried. They always try, but we just didn't have enough tonight. We just -- it wasn't our night."

Next up for the Red Raiders will be a Saturday, March 17 meeting with the winner of Florida vs. St Bonaventure. The Gators come into the tournament as the No. 6 seed and a 20-12 record. The Bonnies counter with a 26-7 record and the No. 11 seed.

Turnovers and Ineffective Offense trump SFA’s upset over Sam Houston

Photo by Darla S Tamulitis, La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2017, All Rights Reserved

By Devin Brooks

Copyright 2017, All Rights Reserved

Special for TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (October  7, 2017) Christmas came in October for the SFA Lumberjacks as the Sam Houston State Bearkats gifted them with multiple turnovers, but SFA wasn’t in a receiving mood.

As a result, 26,792 fans watched the SFA Lumberjacks fall to the Sam Houston StateUniversity Bearkats 27-16 Saturday afternoon at NRG Stadium in Houston. This was the 92^nd edition of the Battle of the Piney Woods game and SFA secured their seventh consecutive loss after failing to convert on the Kats’ multiple blunders throughout the game.

SFA (2-4 overall, 2-2 Southland) forced four turnovers in the game that could’ve been devastating to the Bearkats, but SFA couldn’t capitalize on the Kats’ mistakes and that proved to be the story of the game. Sam Houston committed 13 penalties that totaled to 144 yards. They fumbled three times, twice on special teams, and threw one interception that lifted SFA out of the dark, but thanks to the ineffectiveness of SFA’s offense, the Kats won their seventh straight BOTPW game and now have a 54-35-2 record over the SFA during this 92 game rivalry.

Early in the first quarter the game was shaping up to be a classic blowout. Sam Houston jumped out to a 17-0 lead in the first quarter. Davion Davis, SHSU running back, scored the first touchdown of the game when he rumbled into the end zone from 10 yards out. Sam took 2:47 minutes to run eight plays that totaled 71 yards. Afterwards, quarterback Jeremiah Briscoe and kicker Tre Honshtein added to the lead making the score 17-0 in favor of SHSU after one quarter. Briscoe broke the career record for passing touchdowns (85) for SHSU after his first quarter touchdown pass. SFA gained 9 yards and SHSU gained nine first downs during the first quarter.

SFA came into the second quarter with a different mindset. Sophomore safety, Alize Ward, intercepted Briscoe’s pass and returned it for 52 yards setting SFA up inside the 20 yard line. Storm Ruiz, kicker, would make a 42 yard field goal giving SFA their first score of the game. On SFA’s next possession, Blumrick hooked up with Tamrick Pace for a 58-yard gain. That pass led to Blumrick jumping into the end zone from the one-yard line. That cut the SHSU lead to 17-10 with 3:19 left in the first half.

Photo by Darla S Tamulitis, La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2017, All Rights Reserved

SFA would go into the half down 20-13 after both team’s swapped field goals. After a bevy of miscues that included interceptions, ejections, fumbles and confusing challenges, the Jacks were in position to tie the game at 20 midway through the fourth quarter. Blumrick got the team into the red zone after he hooked up with receiver Frank Iheanacho for a 35-yard gain. Blumrick went through his progressions during the drive on the goal-line and threw a pass into the back of the end zone intended for Cody Williams, but Danzell Sims intercepted the potential game-tying TD pass and ended all hopes of a Lumberjack upset. SHSU would score late in the fourth quarter on a 26-yard TD run by Briscoe. The SFA defense was simply fatigued and Briscoe was able to slip away and score to dagger touchdown. Blumrick completed 18 passes for 205 yards. Pace caught 6 passes for 100 yards. Ward has recorded three interceptions on the season which ties for the most in the SLC.

SFA will gather themselves and take their talents to Conway, Arkansas. The Jacks will battle the eighth ranked Central Arkansas Bears. This game will be featured as the SLC Game of the Week and will be streamed live on ESPN3. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 14, at Estes Stadium in Conway.

SFA, Central Arkansas advance to Southland Tournament Final

Photo by Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2017 All Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2017 TexSport Publications

KATY, TEXAS (March 11, 2017) The No. 1 ranked Central Arkansas Honey Bears outscored the No. 5 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders 62-44 in route to second appearance in the Southland Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament final. Last season, the Honey Bears downed the number seven seed Sam Houston State 69-62 to claim the Southland Conference Tournament title and advance to the NCAA National Tournament. In the 2016 post-season, they fell to the Louisville Cardinals by the score of 87-60 in the first round. Central Arkansas improved their record to 20-1 in road/neutral games against Southland opponents over the past two seasons.

“We beat a very good Corpus team,” said Sugar Bears head coach Sandra Rushing, the Southland Coach of the Year. “This team found a way to win. They showed a lot of heart and a lot of passion.”

The No. 3 Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks outscored Lamar in the first third and fourth periods to down the No. 2 Cardinals 62-48 to take the second semi-final game and secure their place in the tournament final. Obtaining their 20^th appearance in the finals was led by the duo of Stevie Parker and Taylor Ross, who ponied up 34 of SFA’s 62 points. Parker, who chipped in 14 points, added 13 rebounds, with all but one on the defensive end of the court. Adrienne Lewis added 10 points in the winning effort. 

The Honey Bears and Ladyjacks have faced off twice this season, with Central Arkansas taking both games. On January 25, the game was played Conway with the Honey Bears winning by four (67-63). The next match-up came 31 days later, on February 25, with Central Arkansas coming out on top 70-58 in Nacogdoches.  The last time the Ladyjacks advanced to the NCAA Tournament was 2006, where they fell to No. 4 seed Arizona State 80-61 in the Tucson Regional.

Tipoff for the title game is set for 12 p.m. CDT on Sunday, March 12, 2017.

HBU upsets SFA 31-24 in Southland Conference football action

Tony Dawson (11) rushed for 218 yards and two touchdowns.
Photo courtesy HBU Media Relations Department

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2016 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (November 12, 2016) The Houston Baptist University Huskies jumped out to a 14-7 lead at halftime and when on to down the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks by the score of 31-24 at Husky Stadium on the campus of HBU on Saturday, November 12, 2016. The win was the first ever for the Huskies over the Lumberjacks and gave HBU their biggest win in program history.

The Lumberjacks got on the scoreboard on their first possession; driving 75 yards in 10 plays to put six points on the scoreboard when Zach Conque connected with Tamrick Pace on a 32-yard pass. Storm Ruiz booted the conversion to give SFA a 7-0 lead. The Huskies responded on their first possession with a 75-yard, 10 play drive. Tony Dawson hit Terrance Peters with a 26-yard pass for the score. Alec Chadwick added the conversion to tie the score at seven at the 6:57 mark of the first quarter.

HBU scored seven points in both the second and third quarters and 10 points in the fourth. SFA matches the Huskies’ scoring output in the second half. The Huskies achieved 437 yards of total offense while Dawson completed 9-of-22 passes for 139 yards and one interception. SFA’s Conque was 26-of-43 with one interception. Husky head coach Vic Shealy commented about the win after the game.

“We wished we could’ve played out the last six minutes of the game much more clean, that is part of the growing and maturation of your program. It was the first time we had been in that situation with the onside kicks, but you learn and we’ve got good coaches and players who want to better themselves and I’m confident we’ll learn and grow. I’m even more excited, as a football program, we can create memories with that 17-point fourth quarter. The turnover we created led to a score and that was a pretty clutch field goal, it wound up making a difference in the game, and that shows the maturity in our program. This is a really significant moment in our program.”

Dawson saw great success on the ground, breaking his Dawson broke his own school record with 218 rushing yards and two touchdowns. His 83-yard third-quarter touchdown is the longest play from scrimmage, then added a 41-yard early in the fourth. He had previously rushed for 191 yards against Nicholls on Oct. 15. He stated after the game:

“We just tried to come out and execute our offense – we didn’t try to do anything fancy, just took what they gave us. (Beating SFA) is a big accomplishment, to get a home win in my senior year for all of the other seniors and everyone else in this program, I’m just really proud of the guys. They had my back and I had their backs, so we just went out there and fought. (The onside kick recovery) was the biggest play of the night, by far, I misjudged the first one, but the second one was the play of the game to seal the deal.”

The Huskies has set new program records for wins (four) and conference wins (three) and finished the season with a winning record at home with a 3-2 mark.

Sam Houston dominates SFA 63-28 in Battle of the Piney Woods

Nathan Stewart (81) caught five passes for 183 yards
and two TDs in the first half for the Bearkats.
Photo by Darla Tamulitis-La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2016 All Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2016 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (October 1, 2016) Scoring 28 points in the first quarter, the No. 2 Sam Houston State Bearkats used an effective passing game to down Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks by the score of 63-28 in the Battle of the Piney Woods at Houston's NRG Stadium on Saturday, October 1, 2016. The Bearkats have won the past six matchups and 13 of the past 17 games. This year's game, the 91st edition, makes the match up the third longest continuous college football rivalry in Texas.

After five minutes of back-and-forth football, the Bearkats found their way into the end zone on a 37-yard pass from quarterback Jeremiah Briscoe to wide receiver Yedidiah Louis for the first touchdown of the game. The score capped a four-play drive at the 9:20 mark in the first quarter. They added another another touchdown two minutes, 32 seconds later when Briscoe found wide receiver Davion Davis open down the left side of the field; flinging him a 57-yard pass for the score. On the ensuing kickoff, SFA's Trevon Smith caught the ball and advanced it to their own 13-yard line, With a hard hit on Smith, Bearkat safety P.J. Giddens forced Smith to fumble; which was recovered by linebacker Santiago Montoya. As a result, Sam Houston took over on the SFA 18-yard line. Three plays later, Briscoe handed-off the ball to running back Corey Avery, who rambled the final seven yards of the possession for the Beatkats' third touchdown in less than four minutes. They added their fourth touchdown of the first quarter when Briscoe hit Nathan Stewart with a 73-yard bomb at the 2:39 mark. Four minutes later, in the second quarter, Briscoe again connected with Stewart on a 39-yard pass to take the score to 35-0 with 12:13 left in the first half.

Jabalon Allen (in the blue) got SFA's first touchdown of the game on
an 18-yard pass from Zach Conque.
Photo by Darla Tamulitis, La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2016 All Rights Reserved

The Lumberjacks finally found the endzone two minutes after Bearkats' fifth touchdown when quarterback Zach Conque hit fullback Jabralon Allen with an 18-yard pass for the TD. Kicker Storm Ruiz added the extra point to cut the Bearkat lead to 35-7. However, Sam Houston would not allow their lead to be cut, and added another Briscoe to Louis pass of 17 yards to post a 42-7 lead with 7:29 remaining in the half. Sam Houston score three additional times in the third quarter. Briscoe continued his air assault with touchdown passes to Collin Rison and Deon Hutchinson, while Corey Avery added a 21-yard rushing touchdown. The Lumberjacks added 14 points to their total in the third quarter with two touchdown passes and extra points. They also added a fourth quarter TD to their close out the scoring in the game.

Offensively, Briscoe completed 25-of-33 passes for 438 yards and seven touchdowns. Stewart caught five apsses for 183 yards, while Louis added seven catches for 119 yards. Both Stewart and Louis accounted for two touchdowns each of the Bearkats total.

Sam Houston head coach K.C. Keeler stated after the game:

I thought going in that this was possibly the best opponent that we had on our schedule. We have tremendous respect for Stephen F. Austin. But we really have had two good weeks of focused practice and it was good to see us continue to push through after not playing, what we feel, was our best football earlier in the year. I think we have gotten that mentality that we are going to have tremendous preparation as we move forward and I think we played a pretty good game tonight.

Photo by Darla Tamulitis, La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2016 All Rights Reserved

He also commented about how good the Bearkats offense is: 

It’s tough to find a weak spot on our offense. We have really talented skill kids, like Nathan Stewart who is a true freshman. To have a third running back like Remus (Bulmer), are you kidding me? He starts for everybody in this league. And Jeremiah has really blossomed as a quarterback and his leadership skills are special. It’s been powerful to see him take this team over. With the tempo and the confidence we play at, I think the sky is the limit for this offense. 

The two schools have played each other eight times in Houston. The Kats and the Jacks battled to a 14-14 draw in the Astrodome in 1976. Sam Houston now holds a 54-35 all-time lead, with two ties. Today's win ties the longest winning streak of a school at six.. The Bearkats also won six straight games between 1937-1946.