Stephen F Austin heads to Southland semis

Mar 9, 2018, 04:02 am

KATY, Texas -- Ivan Canete scored 17 points, TJ Holy field added 16, and Stephen F. Austin ran away from Central Arkansas in the second half to win 86-64 in Thursday night's Southland Conference Tournament quarterfinal.

Kevon Harris scored 12 points with 11 rebounds, Ty Charles added 10 points, and Leon Gilmore III scored eight with 10 boards for the No. 3 seed Lumberjacks (26-6), who advance to play No. 2 seed Nicholls State in a Friday semifinal.

The Lumberjacks shot 46.2 percent from the field, outrebounded the Bears 45-24, and held conference player of the year Jordan Howard scoreless in the second half.

Leading 46-34 at halftime, Holyfield opened the second half with a dunk to spark a 9-4 run and the Lumberjacks led by 20 points on Canete's wide-open 3 with 15:37 to play. The Bears closed to within 12 before Charles scored five straight points and the Lumberjacks led 76-57 on Harris' slam off a steal with 6:22 left.

Mathieu Kamba scored 14 points and Howard had 10 for the seventh-seeded Bears (17-16), who shot 38.8 percent.