What We Learned: Jacks charge back to beat UCA in OT thriller

In life and tax code, the origin of wealth is a frequent debate. Did rich people work harder than everyone else? Did they just get all the right breaks? Usually, much to the dismay of hard-line, propaganda-wielding politicians, the truth falls somewhere in the middle.

And that is also how the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks charged back from a 13-point deficit in Conway, Arkansas on Saturday night. A combination of never-quit determination, clutch play, and crucial breaks, resurrected Kyle Keller's squad from a soul crushing downfall.

It was a game both teams had to have. Central Arkansas, occupying the final spot in the SLC Tournament, had to escape with a victory to secure control of their own destiny. SFA, after squandering an opportunity to take a share of the conference lead on Thursday, needed to stop the bleeding just to stay in the top four. 

It was desperate, emotionally-charged basketball. One team's stunning comeback was another's epic collapse. I fully recommend you watch the second half + overtime on WatchESPN.com if you missed the festivities. In the meantime, here's what we learned:

UCA is really not a good matchup for SFA, and defensive-oriented teams in general -

The Bears of Central Arkansas play a brand of basketball that may not exist anywhere else in the country. Russ Pennell has crafted a team that emphasizes playing their best five regardless of position and for the Bears that usually means playing really, really small.

Most nights, they play a lineup with five guards. Even though 6-8 Tanner Schmidt started for the Bears on Saturday, he only played sparingly.

In Nacogdoches, SFA countered with a somewhat small lineup of their own. By the end, after UCA made a late run to keep things interesting, Keller admitted that he played guys too many minutes. SFA, and most teams, do not have enough small depth to counter the UCA personnel.

So instead, you have to try to beat them with size. That can work, and has for most teams this season, but when the Bears' guards are actually draining shots, it can be a mess trying to keep up with them. If you're a defense-first team that plays with size in the paint, stopping their quickness is a nearly-impossible task. UNO did it last week - but that's rare. You just have to flat outscore them and it's a task that doesn't become any easier when your large lineup is barely out-rebounding their small one.

As we know, SFA doesn't flat outscore anyone. They play lock-down defense, keep themselves alive, and methodically pull away. With the lack of consistent scoring, it has been the only formula to work for the Lumberjacks this season. "We aren't pretty," Keller likes to say. "Not by choice."

In some ways, we should just be thankful for the sweep. UCA may not be a particularly good team, but SFA is not designed to beat them.

The team with nine lives should probably stop being counted out -

I'm guilty of it. My colleague, the founder of LumberjackFans.com, is too.

On Wednesday, I announced that with a loss to UNO, the Jacks' #DriveForFive would end. On Thursday, after a massive loss in the Big Easy, I was willing to nail shut the regular-season title coffin.

Last night, as SFA was falling apart in the second half and trailing by double-digits with about five minutes to play, Matt (PurpleOut), posted the following on The Sawmill's game thread:

"We'll be 4th now after this game, and don't feel good about beating Northwestern State or Sam at home at this point (even considering Sam just lost again). HBU is going to be ahead of us now. Such a terrible league."

Much to his credit, he ate crow and left the post up. And much to mine - well - I wasn't the only one. The Associated Press article after the Thursday night game was literally "New Orleans ends Stephen F. Austin's reign in Southland."

But New Orleans lost an unexpected game to 12th place Northwestern State yesterday. In UNO's defense, NSU didn't become second-to-worst team with Zeek Woodley (maker of the game-winning shot), who only made his return from a major injury this week. But that was still a crushing blow to a team with as much confidence as a really bad comedian after their blow-out against SFA.

Now the Lumberjacks sit just a game out, once again. Did I (and the AP, I guess) call the regular season race too soon? Maybe. While SFA gets the final two at home, UNO has to travel to Nicholls on Saturday. They don't generally play well in Thibodeaux.

Yes, Jim Carrey. I'm saying there's a chance.

Welcome back Canete, Cameron and Gilmore! -

I whined after the loss in New Orleans that SFA's best scoring trio for most of the season was in a "slump." They were. All three players have struggled mightily from the floor over the last month.

Not on Saturday. And boy, did SFA ever need them.

Ty Charles hurt his ankle (more on this in a moment). TJ Holyfield, who had another outstanding game, fouled out late in the second half. When it came to crunch time, Canete, Cameron, and Gilmore were the only starters left. They responded.

The three-pointer was a weapon again. The Jacks shot 40% from behind the arc, their best in a long, long time. If any of the above three still had shooting trouble, it was probably Dallas who finished 3-11 from the field. Clutch-Dallas returned in force, though:

All three players hit double-figures, Canete leading the bunch with 16 points (and a whopping eight assists). Gilmore showed off some nifty post moves we haven't seen for a bit against their small interior players. Cameron, well, we saw what he did, scoring 12 points plus five assists.

Sometimes a little confidence is all a player needs to emerge from a cold shooting streak. Let's hope Saturday night did the trick.

Had UCA not scored on their final possession in regulation, Keller made the right call with his timeout. But they did -

I grew up a Dallas Cowboys fan. Back in 2011, when Jason Garrett was still a young coach, he took a lot of flack for a timeout he called during a late season loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Dan Bailey, then a rookie, had missed a couple kicks early in the season by rushing the routine. With eight seconds left and a play clock ticking, Garrett elected to call a timeout when he saw Bailey hastily preparing for the game-winning kick.

Bailey missed. The headlines everywhere involved various forms of mocking Garrett for "icing his own kicker." Had Bailey made the kick, Garrett would've made the right call. But he didn't.

In last night's game, I thought from the 8:00 mark on, Kyle Keller called a masterful game. The adversity dealt to the Lumberjacks in the form of black-and-white stripes, made for a difficult task. The lineup adjustment, strategy shifting (without Ty Charles and then without TJ Holyfield), and the ability to keep the players focused on digging out of the massive hole, was brilliant.

With roughly three seconds left and UCA preparing to inbound (down by two), Keller called a timeout. Pennell had none left and used the opportunity to draw up a play. Keller, meanwhile, saw a defense that had been struggling to get stops against UCA's quickness, saw something he didn't like in the lineup, and wanted to make an adjustment.

Pennell used a fake Howard screen and brilliantly got the ball to his biggest guard, Mathieu Kamba, for the and-one score. Kamba missed the free throw that would've likely won it for UCA, fortunately for SFA.

Keller did not make the right call. Had the Lumberjacks made the stop, he would have. Crazy how that works, right? We get hindsight to judge coaching based on result. It's pretty easy to be a fan, I guess.

Teams take on the character of their coaches -

It's an old saying and one that proves true time and time again. The character of a team is generally a reflection of their head coach. SFA's is clear.

They mix it up, they fight, they battle, and they never quit. Those who know the ridiculous work ethic of Kyle Keller know exactly where the team's personality comes from. Even TJ Holyfield, known by many as the force of stoicism on the team, was in someone's face during a moment that drew warnings in the first half.

People may not like the way it played out on Thursday when emotions got the better of this team, but it was the same force that powered this team back two nights later. They don't want to lose, and whether they're down two or 25, they always think they're in the game.

You can never say about a Kyle Keller team that they don't play really, really hard. Sometimes the leadership on the team, whether Keller or Dallas Cameron (who had to drag players away during that first-half mix up), have to step in and be a calming force. As I wrote the other day, that's probably what they needed during the UNO loss.

But on Saturday, we saw the other side of that fire. The side that heats you up but doesn't burn you. That's all Keller and his staff.

Do not think for a second that SFA doesn't need Ty Charles a lot -

A number of people questioned after the game how Charles' injury and absence for the comeback negatively effected the team. Didn't their best offense come without him on the floor? Well, sort of.

Remember that part about how Central Arkansas plays a brand of basketball seen nowhere else in America? Charles is a matchup nightmare because he can play like a guard or post up like a forward depending on who his competition is. His guard/forward combo size and speed is what makes him a lethal player when he's healthy.

Against UCA, the effectiveness of that is somewhat limited. There are no big guys, just really quick guards. It isn't that Charles played poorly. He could not buy a foul call inside as he was so frequently clobbered all night. He still scored eight points despite battling foul trouble, but his kind of physical basketball was somewhat limited against the small players and the way the crew called the game.

I mean, for goodness sake, just look at the play he was injured on:

Keller said after the game that it was too early to make a prediction on Charles' status going forward. My experience tells me that is not good news. Despite what SFA was able to do without him on the floor, that is huge, HUGE, for this team if they want to make their NCAA Tournament push in Katy.

But on Saturday night, the Lumberjacks just wouldn't go away. "A bunch of new guys playing with lineups rarely practiced," Keller said. "The assistant coaches, guys on the bench, and the guys playing, they willed themselves back."

It took a few lucky breaks in the form of missed free-throws, but SFA did with their insane comeback what most teams on the road cannot.

And that, from a team we say can't get it done outside William R. Johnson Coliseum. Crazy.