What We Learned: Clutch SFA knocks off LaTech in Ruston

A college basketball team from a Louisiana school along I-20, down by three points in the final minute, a blown coverage and a clutch shot to tie.

It's a story told twice this week. In each case, it has the same ending.

Against Louisiana-Monroe in William R. Johnson Coliseum and Louisiana Tech in the Thomas Assembly Center, Stephen F. Austin had an opportunity to hold out for a final go-ahead shot. Although the drama played out a little bit differently in each case, a buzzer-beater from Aaron Augustin this past weekend, more recently a beautiful drive by sophomore Kevon Harris with just over four seconds remaining, the end result was the same: Lumberjacks win.

Although the season remains early and Louisiana Tech's 20th spot in the Daily RPI was not necessarily an accurate metric, the Bulldogs have an excellent basketball team. Big wins in past years in the non-conference have often come against good programs in down years (think Memphis in 2014-15), but this was not that kind of win. 

This was a good program in a good year. It was validation. Stephen F. Austin basketball is back on the mid-major scene.

Here's what else we learned:

This was not an upset and that's what makes it such a big win -

This is college basketball where anyone can beat anyone on a given night. Teams play down to competition all the time and there are at least a few headscratchers every week in the Division I ranks.

When there are a lot of games to play, inevitably opponents get overlooked. Teams have bad nights. It happens.

Louisiana Tech didn't have a bad night on Wednesday. My hope is that not lost in all this is the realization that LaTech played an excellent game, too. This was not a case where the Lumberjacks handled a team on an off night.

This was not an upset.

This was a case of two very good basketball teams in a classic basketball game. Both the Lumberjacks and Bulldogs were firing on all cylinders and SFA still walked away with a dub.

Teams can score big wins when their opponent is down, sure. UCA did it last night. But beating a good team at their best is the biggest kind of win there is. That's when you know your team is for real. That's what SFA did on Wednesday evening.

Getting offense from defense is how SFA is going to need to score points this year -

The Lumberjacks half-court offense was notably improved in their battle with LaTech but there will continue to be hiccups throughout the season.

SFA has some very talented pieces but it won't always be athletically superior on the court. They'll need the cheap points in those bouts. As former head coach Danny Kaspar says, "offense takes skill, but defense is about team effort." With exactly that, team effort, SFA is starting to figure out how to turn world-class defensive pressure into actual score on the offensive side. 

That's how you have to beat teams like LaTech on their home floor - a venue where the Bulldogs were 84-4 in games since 2012.

This TJ Holyfield block, Leon Gilmore rebound, and Ivan Canete to Kevon Harris alley-oop in transition is one example of it, but it was a theme of the night for SFA. This is how a Kyle Keller team can score enough points to beat really good teams:

Kyle Keller will never admit exactly how personal this was, but his players knew. They played their hearts out for him -

Louisiana Tech was the birthplace of Keller's coaching career. As a young graduate assistant and later an assistant coach, Ruston, Louisiana was the stage for the genesis of a journey that saw Keller go from an injured former baseball player to a Division I head coach. It wasn't without some bumps along the way.

Keller was nothing but gracious to his former employer in the moments after the game on Wednesday. "They took a chance on me when they didn't have to," he said. "Just like SFA did."

The truth is, there's a lot more to the story. The players understood how much it meant. It's not that they don't try really hard in a lot of games, but they were up a little more than usual for this one. This was the game where everything had to click. "Heart" is the first word that comes to mind when describing the scrappy nature of Keller's team in the aftermath; a team fully taking on the personality of their head coach.

"I like when the game gets gritty and grimy," he said. "That's kind of who I am."

He was as cool and collected as ever in the dramatic and heart stopping final minutes. But there was nobody - nobody - happier in the building when the Lumberjacks finally put it away. 

Keller wanted that win a little extra. His team delivered it.

Kevon Harris doesn't always have to be the star, but when he is... -

Kevon Harris is a sophomore. I repeat, Kevon Harris is a sophomore. He's not always going to be locked in the way he was on Wednesday and that's okay. As we've addressed in the past, the multitude of scoring options protects SFA from needing the same stars to be on every single night.

But when he's on, it's hard to really think of a more complete player in the entire Southland Conference right now. His raw athleticism alone would make him a star in this league, but Harris can also shoot, rebound and defend with the best of them. Realizing that he has two full additional years of eligibility should be terrifying for others in #SouthlandStrong territory.

He's a forward, he's a guard, he's whatever you want him to be - a damn good basketball player. 

And when he's not on, TJ Holyfield can regularly contribute 20 points. Shannon Bogues has shown that ability early. Ivan Canete is finding his groove offensively after a slow start. And Ty Charles? Well...

Even with an unstoppable Harris, SFA can't win without these contributions from Ty Charles -

Long one of the most clutch players on SFA's roster, Charles came up huge in the final minutes. They weren't flashy plays, necessarily, but they were winning plays.

He'll be the Ty Charles we've come to know in short order, but in the meantime, he's still capable of being the difference between victory and defeat.

Without even considering his defensive presence in those final minutes, keep in mind that this montage is in crunch time, all in the final four minutes of a one possession game, coming from a guy who is playing his third game back from an entire offseason of rehab:

So, how do you move forward after a big road win? You don't let down in a home game against a team you should handle.

A struggling Rice team comes to WRJ on Saturday afternoon. Hot off a big win and looking forward to a couple more big non-conference games a little ways down the road, SFA cannot afford to overlook their Conference USA opponents from Houston. 

Remember, it's college basketball; anyone can beat anyone on an off night. SFA fans got a treat on Wednesday as their team played some excellent team basketball. The Lumberjacks, like they almost did a few days earlier against ULM, would prefer to not find out what happens when they don't.