What We Learned: SFA dominates UNO, vaults back into SLC race

It was just a few short weeks ago when I sat inside Burton Coliseum contemplating what to write after witnessing a massacre at the ends of a clearly inferior McNeese team in Lake Charles. Nobody was in a talking mood but head coach Kyle Keller's wife Chaunsea looked surprisingly upbeat. "Don't quit on us," she told me. "They're going to figure it out."

Nearly a month later, the Lumberjacks remain a bit of a mystery. Flashes of brilliance, moments of incompetence. Inconsistent play plagues them at times and yet those glimpses of excellence have been enough to keep them thoroughly in the conference championship picture.

The next step to figuring it out, turning that corner, and regaining their perch atop the Southland Conference, was beating New Orleans on Saturday night. Mission accomplished.

The Lumberjacks thoroughly dominated a game from start to finish that was closer to a blowout than the 10-point margin of victory would otherwise indicate. TJ Holyfield and Leon Gilmore both flirted with double-doubles for the second-straight game, Dallas Cameron won his 100th game, and it was a party in William R. Johnson Coliseum.

The games only get bigger from here: SFA will take on the team now tied with New Orleans for first place, Sam Houston State, later this week. In the meantime, lets review some things we learned on Saturday:

We're just a few days away from finding out who this team really is -

If you've ever heard a Kyle Keller press conference, you know his affection for February 1st: basketball judgement day or at least the start of the judgement period. After the wins and the losses this season, Keller has never wavered. "Judge us then," he says with regularity.

So its no surprise that SFA's head coach sent me this text an hour after beating New Orleans on Saturday night: "This week will determine if we are really players or not. February 1st."

The Lumberjacks will face their toughest task of the conference season on the 2nd. This Thursday, SFA travels to Huntsville, home of league-favorite Sam Houston State. A road game against the winners of seven-straight. A hated rival looking to avenge the years of Lumberjack beat-downs.

It is everything you could want in a game. And it happens after February 1st. This week, we know who we are.

The freshmen wall may be finally coming down -

On a week where the construction of a wall has been largely discussed in a political context, another kind of wall may be coming down. SFA coaches have talked of the "freshman wall," that period in the mid-conference season where the grind of collegiate basketball can start to wear down young players. Kevon Harris and Aaron Augustin, SFA's two freshmen playmakers, have struggled for stretches in the month of January.

On Saturday night, Harris was ready to break through. The Georgia product dove for loose balls, made momentum changing shots, and was generally a force of energy. On more than one occasion, his effort plays salvaged otherwise ugly moments for the Jacks. For instance...

A portion of the optimism the coaching staff has had for the season has centered on Kevon and Augustin and the hope that things will begin clicking for the last couple months of the season. Saturday's game was a big step in the right direction for one of them.

SFA took a defensive gamble and won -

On Friday in practice, during an otherwise routine 5-on-5 drill, Ty Charles drove the ball into the paint and kicked it out to a wide open man just outside the 3-point arc. Kevon Harris, playing defense, left his man to close out the the oncoming shot. Keller immediately stopped the play. "Why would you do that?" he shouted to Harris. "We don't care about that guy! Let him shoot!"

The game plan to beat New Orleans was pretty simple. Defend the paint, deny the entry pass, live with the outside shots. That's what they did - count on a shooting guard not getting too hot - and it worked.

The Privateers do have a handful of players capable of making perimeter shots. Nine of Christavious Gill's twelve points came from behind the arc on Saturday - but UNO would make just one other attempt out of their twelve total. SFA knew it wasn't their game.

They dared the Privateers to take jump shots or force the ball down low. Sometimes they turned it over, sometimes the sheer brilliance of Erik Thomas won out. But when the dust settled, SFA both out-rebounded the Privateers and outscored them in the paint. That is a magnificent accomplishment against Mark Slessinger's big team and a credit to the scouting and game preparation this SFA team did ahead of Saturday's showdown.

Sometimes you just have to tip your hat to exceptional players, regardless of which uniform they're wearing -

Between Wednesday's victory over UCA and Saturday's over UNO, the Lumberjacks have certainly faced a couple great players in Jordan Howard and Erik Thomas. Despite SFA's denial of paint entry, history of shutting down opposing superstars, and otherwise outstanding defensive effort, Thomas was going to get his on Saturday.

"He's a big time player," Keller told the media after the game. "That dude could play for me in a heartbeat. I have a lot of respect for him. I do not look forward to trying to guard him again."

If I had been told pregame that Thomas would score 23 points on 9-11 shooting, knowing the game plan was to largely deny him, I wouldn't have believed for a second that SFA would win at all, much less by double digits. The good news is, SFA overcame his big night and still controlled the game from start to finish.

The bad news is, SFA plays him again. This time at Lakefront Area in New Orleans. This is going to be a tough team to beat twice.

Dallas Cameron means everything to this team -

During the non-conference season, coaches were generally frustrated with Cameron's growth as a point guard. SFA's lone senior was trying to change positions for his final season, a defensive specialist and shooting guard, now running the offense as a floor general. It wasn't going particularly well.

As the early games wore on, even the thing that Cameron did well, play defense, was starting to crumble with his confidence. Keller showed Cameron tape from his junior season. "This is you, Dallas," he said. "Regardless of what's happening on offense you can still play defense like this."

After Wednesday's victory over Central Arkansas, Keller called Cameron, along with Leon Gilmore, one of his two most consistently reliable players. That is a far cry from where Dallas stood just weeks ago. The selflessness of changing positions as a senior, giving up the comfort of experience for the betterment of the team, cannot be overstated.

I say all this because I want to emphasize that this transition was not an easy one for Cameron. Since mid-January, something has clicked. Even if it hadn't, the servant-leadership of Dallas Cameron demands respect.

All season, former SFA point guard Trey Pinkney has worked closely with Dallas, trying to ease the conversion. On Saturday, Dallas joined Trey as a member of the exclusive 100 wins club. For all he's done as a player and a leader in this program, both this season and past, I hope Cameron gets the appreciation from this fan base that he deserves when it's all said and done.

Dance on, Dallas: