SHSU Bearkats Remains At No.3 In Both Polls
by Cheval D. John
After the Bearkat football team clinching a share of the Southland Conference (SLC) title with a 52-17 beat down of Northwestern State Demons in Natchitoches last Saturday, they remain at No.3 in both the FCS Sports Network Polls and the NCAA Coaches Polls this week.
The Bearkats completed their conference schedule with a 6-1 record.
Central Arkansas clinched the SLC title the week before with a 35-14 win over the Demons at Estes Stadium in Conway, Arkansas and also finished conference play with a 6-1 record.
The Bears received the automatic bid into the NCAA FCS playoffs due to their head-to-head win over the Bearkats earlier in the season.
This marks the 22nd week that the Bearkats have been nationally ranked in the top 25 and the 19th time they have been in the top 10.
Both North Dakota State and Montana State remains at No.1 and No.2 respectively, after both teams won their matchups last week.
The Bearkats will finish their season in a non-conference matchup with Football Bowl Series (FBS) opponent Texas A&M on Saturday at Kyle Field in College Station.
The Aggies are coming off a huge 28-24 upset win over the previous No.1 University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa this past weekend.
To see the FCS rankings, click here.
Wells-Gibson Earns SLC’s “Player of The Week”
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
Sam Houston State’s Deveney Wells-Gibson has been named as Southland Conference volleyball “offensive player of the week” after leading the Kats to home victories over McNeese State and Lamar to help SHSU clinch its first regular season league title since 1994.
Wells-Gibson averaged 4.78 kills per set and totaled 49 points for the week.
The San Antonio, Texas (Churchill H.S.), native chipped in with 29 digs and produced double figure kills in each match.
The sophomore outside hitter is second in the conference with 4.06 kills per set while the Bearkats clinched a share of the regular season title Saturday.
Sam Houston State will be making its sixth consecutive Southland Conference post-season tournament appearance and its 18th trip to the event overall.
The Bearkats won the Southland post-season tournament in 1993 and 1996 and finished as runner-up in 1987.
Sam Houston is the No. 2 seed at this year’s event hosted by Central Arkansas in Conway.
The Kats begin action against No. 7 seed Nicholls at 11 a.m. Friday.
The semifinals will be played Saturday with the championship finals on Sunday.
The tournament winner represents the Southland Conference in the NCAA national volleyball championships.
Bearkat Bowlers Wins Second Tournament
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
The Sam Houston women’s bowling team earned its second tournament championship in three tries Sunday, taking the title at the Hornet Invitational in Montgomery, Alabama.
After going 5-0 on Saturday in tradition team matches, the Bearkats won all three best of seven baker contests Sunday. Sam Houston averaged 200.9 pins on the final day of action and boasted a 198.0 overall pin average for the event.
The tournament was played at the Brunswick Zone bowling lanes.
Earlier this season, Sam Houston won the Tulane Invitational and was the runner-up in their second outing at the Bethune-Cookman tournament in Florida.
The Kats now stand 26-5 in dual matches this season.
“Today was another great day for us,” head coach Brad Hagen said. ” I can’t be more happy with all of the right things we’re doing in tournament play. All the hard work and hours these girls are putting in on the lanes are really paying dividends.”
Saturday’s 5-0 performance marked the third tournament in a row for the No. 8 ranked Bearkats to go unbeaten on the first day of competition.
SHSU defeated Jackson State 962-832, Alabama State 1034-908, No. 16 Alabama A&M 1005-977, Tulane 1027-826 and Alabama-Birmingham 922-809.
Sunday, Sam Houston came back from 3-1 down to defeat Alabama A&M 4-3 then knocked off Tulane 4-1 and Alabama State 4-1.
Following Sunday’s final round, the Kats stood in first place followed by Alabama State in second, Alabama A&M in third, Ala-Birmingham fourth, Tulane fifth and Jackson State sixth.
In traditional team play Saturday, Kimi Davidson of Sam Houston produced the top individual performance with a 232.6 average in five matches.
Other Bearkat scores and standings included Neishka Cardona second 215.2, Michelle Secours sixth 196.6, Anna Groce 10th 184.0, Becca Pittser 29th 163.0 and Erin Brown 33rd 159.5.
No.3 Kats Clinched Second Straight SLC Title
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
Natchitoches, Louisiana-Timothy Flanders, Brian Bell and Trey Diller combined to lead the offense and the Bearkat defense remained tough as well as Sam Houston State rolled to a 52-17 victory over Northwestern State Saturday.
The win gives Sam Houston State their second consecutive Southland Conference regular season football championship, a feat unequaled in the Bearkats’ 26 seasons in the league.
Sam Houston and Central Arkansas stand as co-champions, both with 6-1 league records.
The No. 3 ranked Bearkats upped their season record to 8-2.
Flanders produced the 22nd 100-yard rushing performance of his career, carrying 17 times for 138 yards including scoring runs of 56 and 4 yards.
Bell completed 17 of 23 passes for 239 yards and three touchdowns.
Diller caught seven of those passes for 119 yards and a score.
The Kat defense allowed Northwestern State only 141 total yards and 42 on the ground.
The Sam Houston offense rolled up 509 total yards (253 rushing and 256 passing).
The championship marks Sam Houston’s fifth Southland football title.
The Bearkats also won championships in 1991, 2001, 2004 and 2011.
After being forced to punt on their first two possessions, the Bearkats got rolling on a seven play 93-yard drive with Flanders scoring on a 56-run through the right side at the 3:07 mark in the first quarter.
The run marked the ninth time in his career Flanders has scored a touchdown of more than 50 yards.
Ed Eagan returned the kickoff 82 yards to tie the game 7-7 ten seconds later.
Miguel Antonio gave the Bearkats a 10-7 lead with just 21 seconds into the second quarter after a 10-play 55-yard drive.
Sam Houston reached the five-yard line on the drive but was moved back to the 20-yard line by a personal foul penalty.
A quarterback sack by Robert Shaw forced Northwestern State to punt from its end zone against the wind on the next Demon possession.
On the first play after the punt, Bell found tight end T. J. Jones open over the middle for a 50-yard touchdown as SHSU went up 17-7 with 12:08 to play in the half.
The Bearkat defense came up with the next score.
J. T. Cleveland forced a fumble that pinned the Demons on their own one.
On third down, Bookie Sneed intercepted a Brad Henderson pass and returned the pick 11 yards for a touchdown and a 24-7 lead 7:54 before intermission.
The interception was Sneed’s fourth of the year and his second for a touchdown.
The junior cornerback now has eight career interceptions, tying him for eighth in the all-time SHSU interception standings.
Bell threw 38-yards to Trey Dillar and 10-yards to Chance Nelson for a pair of touchdowns in the final 2:57 of the first half.
The pass to Diller completed a seven play 68-yard drive and Nelson’s catch ended a 10 play 61-yard march.
John Shaughnessy kicked a 27-yard field goal on the last play to make the score at intermission 38-10.
Sam Houston opened the second half with a 14-play 80-yard scoring drive capped off by a four-yard touchdown run by Flanders.
The Bearkats finish their regular season schedule next Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in College Station against Texas A&M.
Bearkat Basketball Narrowly Lost To Razorbacks
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
Fayetteville, Ark. – Sam Houston head coach has said all fall that the 2012-13 edition of the Bearkat men’s basketball team will be much better shooters.
The young Kat squad proved their coach right as they threw a scare into Arkansas, falling by only five points 73-68 Friday night in both team’s season opener.
Darius Gatson led Sam Houston with 20 points, hitting four of six three-point attempts.
James Thomas added 14 points and Demarcus Gatlin scored 10.
Coty Clark led the Hogs with 20 points. Twenty four of Arkansas’ points came at the free throw line.
“With a lineup that includes seven young guys who were playing their first NCAA Division I game against a team like Arkansas that presses for 40 minutes and an atmosphere like this one in Fayetteville, I was really happy with the way these guys refused to fold under pressure,” Hooten said.
“We’re just working on becoming a better team right now. We’d only worked on their press the last three days.”
Sam Houston started strong, jumping out to an 8-4 lead with a layup by Gatson at the 16:52 mark.
The Razorbacks roared back to tie the contest at 14-14.
James Thomas gave the Bearkats their last lead, 16-14, with a layup with 12:01 to play.
Arkansas went on a 12-2 run to build their largest lead of the first half, 29-18, with 6:40 remaining.
A trio of three-point baskets, the third by Nathaniel Mason, brought Sam Houston back within four 33-29 with 1:07 remaining before intermission.
The Hogs led 37-29 at halftime.
The Bearkats kept the contest close throughout the second period.
Gatson cut the lead to four 42-38 with 16:19 to play and a three-pointer by Marquel McKinney brought SHSU within three 46-43 at the 13:18 mark.
Jeremy McKay’s trey with 51 seconds to play made it a four-point game, but the Hogs held on for the victory.
Sam Houston State will play their 2012-13 home opener Tuesday at Johnson Coliseum against Hardin-Simmons.