Bearkat Bowlers Takes Kat Klash Tournament
by Cheval John
HUNTSVILLE, TX-The Sam Houston State Bearkat bowling team won the second annual Track Kat Klash Bowling Tournament on Sunday.
The tournament was the third that the Bearkats have won in this season.
It was also their second time that they won the Kat Klash tournament.
“This tournament was our biggest one so far and coming off with the win is huge,” senior Michelle Secours said.
The Bearkats came into the tournament ranked at No.8 nationally.
They went 12-1 in the three-day event with wins against four nationally ranked teams.
In the final day, they defeated No.9 Valparaiso Crusaders, No.2 Arkansas State Redwolves and No.14 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawks.
But it wasn’t an easy road for the Bearkats.
Trailing 2-1 in the best of seven baker style play against Valparaiso and in danger of finishing in fifth place, SHSU had to dig deep in order to even the score.
With the Crusaders finishing at 183 and the Bearkats having two more frames to go at 145, Secours and junior Kimi Davidson got back-to-back strikes in the ninth and ten frame, respectively to keep their hopes alive.
On the next roll, Davidson got the last nine pins to give the Bearkats the match at 191-183 to even the match at 2.
“We made shots when we had to,” head coach Brad Hagen said.
“When we had to make strikes, we did. Everything worked out.”
The Bearkats won the fifth match 266-209 to pull out to a 3-2 lead.
However, the Crusaders took the sixth match to even it at 3 and forcing a winner takes all match.
Both teams were neck-and-neck in the first five frames of the match.
But with the Crusaders rolling nine pins in the sixth frame, opened up the door for the Bearkats to rum away with it.
That is exactly what they did.
Freshman Anna Groce started the party with a strike in the sixth frame.
Then the flood gates opened as junior Neishka Cardona, freshman Erin Brown, Secours and Davidson each made strikes to finish off the Crusaders and move on to the semifinal round against the Redwolves.
“There was a good cynergy between the upperclassman and the underclassman,” Hagen said.
“When everybody had to make a shot, they did.”
The Bearkats eventually defeated Arkansas State 4-2 to reach the finals against the Warhawks.
UW-Whitewater took the opening match 214-163.
It seemed as if the Warhawks was going to take a 2-0 after finishing the match at 202 courtesy of two strikes in the tenth frame.
But Davidson rolled 9 pins and a spare in the the tenth frame that allowed her to get another chance to even the score for the Bearkats.
Davidson got the much needed 9 pins to win the match at 212-202 to tie it at 1.
From there, the Bearkat took advantage of their opportunities and got three straight wins against the Crusaders to win the tournament.
“We did what we needed to do and we kept the momentum going and overall it was a great weekend,” Davidson said.
“She (Kimi Davidson) come a long way,” Hagen said.
“She had a great first half which is good. … .We looking for her to do it again in the second half of the season.”
Davidson finished the day with an 211 pin average. That was second behind a 214.2 averegage by Secours.
Brown averaged a 194 while Cardona averaged a 185.8.
Though Groce had a 180.25 average, her game played an important role in the Bearkats getting their third tournament title.
“She set the tone for us and overall she did a great job,” Davidson said.
Bearkat Basketball Loses To Northern Arizona 77-60
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
Flagstaff, Ariz – Despite double figure performances by Demarcus Gatlin and Terrance Motley, Sam Houston State fell 77-60 in a non-conference men’s basketball game Saturday at the Skydome.
Gatlin scored 14 points and pulled down six rebounds.
Motley added 13 points and 11 boards as Sam Houston dropped to 3-5 for the season.
Northern Arizona was led by DeWayne Russell with 22 points and Gabe Rogers with 19.
NAU stands 3-4 for the year.
Sam Houston took an early four-point lead as Aaron Harwell’s jumper put the Kats up 8-4 six minutes into the contest.
After a 12-12, Northern Arizona went on a 22-10 run to build a 14 point lead with 3:15 in the half and led 34-25 at intermission.
NAU eventually led by as many as 21 points, 57-36 at the 10:37 mark.
Erik Williams, playing in his second game of the season, added nine points for Sam Houston.
The Bearkats out-rebounded Northern Arizona 44-37, outscoring their opponents 26-20 in the paint and collecting 22 second chance points.
But Sam Houston managed only 22-of-68 from the field for 32.4 per cent.
No.5 Bearkats Holds Off No.12 Mustangs 18-16
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
Huntsville, TX – Miguel Antonio kicked field goals of 20, 32 and 26 yards and running back Timothy Flanders rushed 17 times for 101 yards as No. 5 Sam Houston State held off No. 12 Cal Poly for an 18-16 victory in an NCAA Division I Football Championships second round game Saturday at Elliott T. Bowers Stadium.
Quarterback Andre Broadous rushed for 54 yards and passed for 113 more to lead Cal Poly.
The Mustangs cut the margin to two points on a 50-yard halfback reserve pass by Ryan Taylor to Willie Tucker with 1:34 to play.
But Sam Houston’s Trey Diller recovered the on sides kick attempt and the Bearkats ran out the clock.
Keshawn Hill scored the game’s only touchdown on an 18-yard pass from Brian Bell with 0:31 left in the third quarter to end a nine-play, 83-yard drive.
After trailing 8-0 at halftime after two Antonio field goals and a safety on a punt block by Vincent Dotson, Cal Poly scored on fields goals of 23 and 27 by Bobby Zalud at the 9:34 and 3:88 mark in the third.
Sam Houston, which reached the finals of the FCS playoffs last year, advances to the quarterfinals and will face No.3 Montana State Bobcats in Bozeman on Friday at 6 p.m. on ESPN2.
Bearkat Bowlers Goes 5-0 On First Day Of Kat Klash Tournament
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
The Sam Houston State women’s bowling team won all five of its matches in quad baker match play Friday as the second annual Track Kat Klash tournament completed its first day of action.
The Bearkats defeated Tulane 744-595, Louisiana Tech 833-703, Nebraska 847-838, Wisconsin-Whitewater 822-767 and Vanderbilt 785-771.
Sam Houston State came into the tournament ranked No. 8 in NCAA Division I women’s bowling.
Eight of the 16 teams in the event stand in the top 20. The Bearkats’ victories Friday included wins over the No. 4 (Vanderbilt), 5 (Nebraska) and 14 (Wisconsin-Whitewater) squads in the rankings.
The event is being held at Huntsville Lanes.
Other ranked teams in the field include No. 2 Arkansas State, No. 8 Sam Houston, No. 9 Valparaiso, No. 10 Stephen F. Austin and No. 17 Prairie View A&M.
Bowl.com has announced is streaming all three days action live all weekend on VIA www.bowl.com
The schedule for the Track Kat Klash calls traditional team matches on day two and bracket play best of seven Baker competition on the final day.
Tournament action will run from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Sunday.
Sam Houston won inaugural Track Kat Klash championship last year, defeating Arkansas State four games to none in the finals.
This year’s Bearkat bowlers have already won tournament championships at Tulane and Alabama A&M and finished as runner-up at Bethune-Cookman.
Bearkats Win O.T. Thriller 65-63 Over UC-Irvine
by Cheval John
Huntsville, TX-The Bearkat basketball team was pushed to their limits yesterday against a really good University of California-Irvine Anteaters in the final game of the Progressive Legends Classic Subregional.
The Bearkats knew that they had to give it their all if they wanted to beat an Anteater’s team that went toe to-toe with UCLA Bruins a week ago and narrowly losing to Southern Mississippi the day before.
They did just that in overtime behind a go-ahead, game-winning shot by Darius Gatson with 15 seconds left for a 65-63 win over UC-Irvine.
“I came off the screen. … .I was hoping to turn the corner and got some contact and I was able to get the shot,”
Gatson said.
“It was a big play for us.”
The Bearkats totaled 47 rebounds in the game. Most of the rebounds came on the offensive side of the ball that produced 18 second chance points.
Terrance Motley and Michael Holyfield had eight rebounds apiece.
“They both played really well,” head coach Jason Hooten said.
“Defensive end is technique and offensive end is just heart. We got 17 offensive rebounds. That’s just the will to go get it.”
“(Terrance) Motley got five and (Michael) Holyfield got four. … .That give’s you extra possession everytime.”
The Bearkats opened the game on a 12-2 run. They were leading 19-9 at one point before UC-Irvine came storming back with a 10-1 run of their own to cut the lead to 20-19.
When it was all said and down, the Bearkats were leading 30-25 at halftime.
Then things got really interesting as the Anteaters opened the second half on a 6-0 run to take a 31-30 lead behind a three-pointer by Mike Best and a pair of buckets by Will Davis II.
From there, it was an all-out battle by both teams as they were five lead changes and three ties.
With the score tied at 58, the Bearkats had an opportunity to win it in regulation, but couldn’t convert that allowed the game to go into overtime.
UC-Irvine went on a 5-3 run to lead at 63-61 with about two minutes left in overtime.
“I was sitting there thinking, ‘we’re going to win this game,'” Hooten said.
“Even when we got down in overtime, I just knew one of these guys were going to make a play.”
That turned out to be the case.
After Motley’s free throw that cut the lead to 63-62, Gatson made a huge steal that gave the Bearkats a shot at winning the game in the final seconds.
Gatson, who finished with 13 points, drove to the basket and laid it in for the go-ahead score at 64-63.
UC-Irvine couldn’t convert to tie it up and Gatson made one of his free throws to increase the lead to 65-63.
Then in desparation, the Anteaters threw up a prayer, but missed with time running out with the Bearkats celebrating a huge win.
DeMarcus Gatlin lead the Bearkats with 15 points, five rebounds and one steal.
Adam Folker led UC-Irvine with 13 points while Davis II had 12.
With thanksgiving weekend, the players and coaches will use this time to rest before they get back to work in preparation for Tuesday’s matchup against the University of Texas at Austin.
“It’s another game for us,” Hooten said.
“I know they’re really good. They won two out of three in Maui and I know they will be ready.”
“We will be ready too.”
The Longhorn’s only loss in Maui came against Charminade, a D-II school, but coach Hooten doesn’t see this game as a David vs. Goliath match.
“I wouldn’t look at it like that,” Hooten said.
“This may sound crazy to everybody, but we expect to go play well and have a chance to win no matter who we play.”