Bearkat MBB Rebounds With Big Win Over UCA
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
James Thomas scored 26 points and pulled down 12 rebounds to lead Sam Houston State to an 80-75 Southland Conference men’s basketball victory over Central Arkansas Saturday evening.
The Bearkats held a 13- point lead early in the second half, but saw it evaporate after a 19-5 UCA Bears run to put Central Arkansas up 50-49 with 9:52 to play.
Sam Houston bounced back, taking a 58-57 lead on a jumper by Thomas with 4:50 to play and not allowing a UCA field goal for the next three-and-a-half minutes.
“James Thomas is a hard worker with a big heart and a motor that never stops,” head coach Jason Hooten said. “He made some big plays for us tonight.”
Will Bond added 15 points including three treys while Michael Holyfield pulled down nine rebounds.
“Will is developing into a shot maker and Michael is beginning to come into his own as a post player,” Hooten said. “Those last two minutes when UCA made one last run at us were the longest two minutes I’ve seen in a long time. But this was a good win for us.”
Robert Crawford scored 21 points and LaQuentin Miles added 19.
UCA went 0-for-18 from three point range before hitting three in the final minute and a half to cut Sam Houston’s 11-point lead to game-ending five.
Sam Houston now stands 13-11 for the year and 6-6 in Southland play.
The Bears are 9-14 for the season and 4-9 in league action.
The first 15 minutes of the game featured six ties and four lead changes.
UCA led by one, 23-22 with 5:12 to go in the period when the Kats started a 13-4 run to go into the locker room at intermission with a 35-27 lead.
Sam Houston led by 13, 44-31 on a three-pointer by Marquel McKinney two minutes and 22 seconds into the second half.
But the Kats went cold, hitting only two of their next 12 shots as the UCA Bears took the lead 51-50 after a 19-5 run.
Never behind by more than a field goal in the second period, Sam Houston rallied to take a 58-57 lead on a Thomas lay-up with 4:50 to play.
The Kat defense held the Bears without a field goal for the next three-and-a-half minutes during a 17-3 run to put SHSU up 72-60 on a pair of free throws by Thomas with 1:51 to play.
Sam Houston made six of eight free throws in the final minute and a half to hold off a final charge by the Bears.
The Bearkats play host to Southland Conference leader Stephen F. Austin Wednesday night at 7:45 p.m. at
Bearkats’ Woes Continues After Loss To Central Arkansas
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
The Bearkats are currently on a three-game losing streak after the 71-51 loss to Central Arkansas earlier today in Conway, Arkansas.
The loss dropped the Bearkats to 13-12 for the year and 9-4 in Southland play.
Central Arkansas, one of the preseason league favorites but were in a tailspin the past two weeks, ended a five-game losing streak.
The Bears now stand 14-11 for the year and 7-7 in the Southland.
Courtney Duever led Central Arkansas with 23 points while Megan Herbert added 19.
Nyha Carter led Sam Houston with 14 points. Chanice Smith and Britni Martin added 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Sam Houston held an early 9-6 lead after a Britni Martin three-pointer four minutes into the game.
With the contest tied 10-10 at 14:56, the Bears went on a 15-2 run to go up 25-12 on a Britney Gowan basket with 10:18 left in the half.
After a 9-2 run, the Bearkats cut the margin back to six at 27-21 on another Martin three-pointer at 5:12.
But Central Arkansas out-scored the Kats 10-2 to go into the locker room up 37-23 at intermission.
UCA out-shot the Bearkats 42.4 percent to 32.1 from the field as Sam Houston also went 1-of-9 from the free throw line in the first 20 minutes.
Martin opened the second half with her third three-point basket to cut the margin to 37-26, but that was as close as Sam Houston would come the rest of the day.
Central Arkansas went on a 21-9 run to lead at 58-35, with 9:07 to play.
The Bears led by as many as 25 points late in the final three minutes.
UCA out-scored SHSU 34-28 in the second period.
Sam Houston ended the game shooting 35.1 percent from the field (20-of-57) and 4-of-15 (26.7 percent) from the foul line.
The Bearkats return to Huntsville to take on Stephen F. Austin at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Bearkats Bounced Back With A Win In Extra Innings
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
Hattiesburg, Miss – After a tough loss to Texas A&M on Wednesday, Sam Houston bounced back in a big way tonight against Jacksonville State.
A two-run single by shortstop Cecilla Castillo with no outs in the 11th inning brought in the winning runs as the Bearkats defeated Jacksonville State 5-3 in the first game of the Southern Mississippi Softball Classic Friday.
Shelby Lancaster earned the win in the pitching circle, spreading 13 hits over 11 innings.
She faced 43 batters as she became only the ninth Bearkat softball player to pitch 11 or more innings in one game.
Tori Benavidez singled in the first inning, reached third on a passed ball and scored on a sacrifice fly by Hillary Adams to give Sam Houston its initial run in the first inning.
Down 2-1 in the fourth inning, Castillo doubled then scored on a single by Alyssa Gregg to even the game. Sam Houston took a 3-2 lead in the top of the sixth as Alyssa Coggins singled then scored on an error.
After Jacksonville tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the sixth the two teams battled through four scoreless innings before the Kats scored the game winner.
The Southern Mississippi tournament continues through Sunday.
Bearkat Bowling “Strikes” Again
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
The No. 8 ranked Sam Houston State women’s bowling team added another trophy to its collection of 2012-13 tournament titles Saturday as the Bearkats took the title at the Southern Invitational.
Rolling 5-0 through the quad baker match competition Saturday, Sam Houston highlighted the day with victory over No. 1 ranked Central Missouri.
The event was held at the International Training & Research Center of Team USA.
The Bearkats ended the two-day event with nine victories in 10 matches to up their season record to 72-21.
Saturday, Sam Houston defeated Tulane 857-705, Central Missouri 774-733, Southern 771-605, Texas Southern 837-790 and Florida A&M 919-770.
“Our ladies did a great job of taking care of business today,” Sam Houston head coach Brad Hagen said. “Nothing was easy, even after the big win over Central Missouri. Texas Southern was up by 45 pins through two games but we came firing back. We were down 46 pins in the last match as well but rallied for the win.”
“We still have a lot of matches to take care of but this was a perfect way to kick off February for us with a bang.”
The Sam Houston women’s bowling team rolled to a 4-1 start in team match play Friday on the first day of the Southern Invitational in Arlington.
The Bearkats began the day with a 1049-728 win over host Southern University. Sam Houston followed up with victories over Tulane 974-910, Texas Southern 1005-816 and Florida A&M 1055-866.
In the final match of the day, No. 1 ranked Central Missouri edged past the Kats by only seven pins in a 999-992 duel.