The opening salvo of the Southland Conference tournament has been fired, with No. 2 seed Stephen F. Austin beating Sam Houston State 68-46 on Wednesday at the Merrell Center in Katy.
That's the sixth straight victory for SFA, as they attempt to make a late-season run at an NCAA bid. It's also the third straight victory for SFA over SHSU this season, as the Lumberjacks won 58-47 a week ago in Huntsville. It was also a bit of revenge for SFA, since Sam Houston beat the Lumberjacks in the past two Southland tournaments.
SFA advances to meet the winner of No. 3 seed Lamar and No. 6 Northwestern State at 6 p.m. Thursday. Lamar and Northwestern St. tips at 2:30 p.m. in the second of four games in Katy on Wednesday. The other games will be tournament favorite UT-Arlington and Nicholls at 6 p.m. Wednesday and UT-San Antonio vs. McNeese St. in the nightcap at 8:30 p.m.