Cleveland Named SLC’s “Offensive Player of the Week”
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
Sam Houston senior outside hitter Kendall Cleveland has been named as Southland Conference volleyball “Offensive Player of the Week” after leading the Bearkats to a pair of road victories that landed SHSU in first place in the 2012 Southland race.
Cleveland led the team offensively as the Bearkats knocked off both Oral Roberts and Central Arkansas on the road. Central Arkansas was a perfect 11-0 at home prior to the loss.
Sam Houston extends its winning streak to 11, the longest current streak in the league this year and longest for the Bearkats as an NCAA Division I team.
The Houston, Texas (Cy Creek), native was nearly perfect in the front line with only nine hitting errors in 89 attempts.
The senior produced a career best 22 kills in the Oral Roberts victory and knocked down 14 kills in the UCA win.
Cleveland sits fifth in the Southland with 3.23 kills per set.
Sam Houston setter Tayler Gray took honorable mention honors for Southland “Defensive Player of the Week”.
The Bearkats have five matches remaining in the regular season with two this week at home at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum.
Sam Houston plays host to Southeastern Louisiana Thursday night at 7 p.m. and Nicholls State Saturday at 10 a.m.
Bearkats Moving On Up To No.4
by Cheval D. John
After dismantling Lamar Cardinals 56-7, the Sam Houston State Bearkat football team moved up two spots to No.4 in the Sports Network Football Championship Subdivision polls and the Coaches Poll.
This marks the 21st consecutive week that the Bearkats have been ranked nationally in the top 20.
The Bearkats were led behind junior running back Tim Flanders’four touchdowns on 131 rushing yards.
His efforts earned him the Southland Conference (SLC) “Offensive Player of the Week.”
He is now No.3 in the Southland Conference for rushing touchdowns (47) and total TDs (50) and No.6 in SLC rushing yards (3,395).
The Bearkats return to Elliot T. Bowers Stadium for their final home game against Southeastern Louisiana Lions on Saturday at 2 p.m.
They are currently in second place in the SLC standings and are two wins away from clinching a share of the SLC title.
Bearkat Bowlers Finished Second In Wildcat Invitational
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
No. 8 ranked Sam Houston State posted two victories in three matches over No. 3 Fairleigh Dickinson but FDU’s win came in the bracket finals Sunday afternoon as the Bearkats ended up as runners-up in the Bethune-Cookman Wildcat Invitational.
The tournament was the second competition of the season for the Bearkat women’s bowling team.
Sam Houston ended the tournament with seven victories in 11 matches.
Tournament champion FDU finished the weekend with a 9-3 mark.
Third place Adelphi ended play with a 10-2 mark.
The Bearkats started strong Friday, going 5-0 in team baker match play.
But the bowling team hit some bumps in the road as they won only one of their four traditional team matches in Saturday action.
Sam Houston lost to No. 15 Adelphi 967-189, No. 18 and host Bethune-Cookman 879-857 and unranked Monmouth 965-882 before ending the day with a 996-872 victory over Florida A&M.
“Saturday just wasn’t our day and we have no one to point fingers at but ourselves,” SHSU head coach Brad Hagen said. “We needed to do a better job executing shots and filling frames. The first three games we weren’t so our opponents did what any good competitor should do and they took advantage of our mistakes.”
Michelle Secours posted the seventh best pin total in the team matches with a 190.4 average in five games Saturday. Other Bearkat averages including Neisha Cardona 185.4, Kimi Davidson 180.2, Anna Grace 178.5, Becca Pittser 170.8, Erin Brown 164.0
Going into Sunday’s final day best-of-seven baker match bracket play, Fairleigh Dickinson is seeded No. 1 with 8,519 pins while Sam Houston will be No. 2 with 8,365 total pins.
“We ended on a high note shooting the last two high set of the day to position ourselves in the top two,” Hagen said. “We took advantage of the momentum we built up at the end Saturday and carried that over to Sunday morning as we picked up another win over Fairleigh Dickinson. Things didn’t go our way in the final match but this tournament was a great experience for our young team.”
The Sam Houston bowlers opened the event with a bang, knocking off No. 3 Fairleigh Dickinson 805 to 798.
The Bearkats also won matches over Tulane 812-666, No. 17 Prairie View A&M 770-680, Morgan State 737-515 and Southern University 735-663.
“The lanes were on fire early on before they settled down, so we had to attack the lanes a little different but I am extremely happy with how we managed the lanes today and with the equipment we brought,” SHSU head coach Brad Hagen said. “The girls did an excellent job once again communicating and maintaining their composure throughout the morning and afternoon rounds. We took advantage of every break we had today and stayed as clean as possible. The key to this game at the end of the day next to making quality shots is controlling the emotions and the girls are continuing to do so with class.”
No.5 Bearkats Ate Up Cardinals 56-7
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
Beaumont – Walter Payton Award candidate Timothy Flanders rushed 16 times for 131 yards and four touchdowns to lead Sam Houston to a 56-7 Southland Conference football victory over Lamar Saturday.
The junior’s touchdown runs of seven, one, 59 and 10 yards upped his career totals to 47 rushing TDs and 50 total six-pointers.
Both marks rank Flanders third in Southland Conference annals.
The victory, Sam Houston’s fifth consecutive win, upped the No. 5-ranked Bearkats to 6-2 for the year and 4-1 in Southland Conference action.
Lamar dropped to 3-6 for the year and 0-4 in league play.
The Bearkats out-gained the Cardinals 508 total yards to 181.
Sam Houston’s 378 yards rushing ranks as the program’s third highest total in a Southland Conference game.
The 100-plus yard performance marked Flanders 20th career 100-yard game.
He now ranks sixth in Southland all-time rushing with 3,379 career yards.
The four TDs give Flanders his fourth career game with three or more scores.
Flanders set the Sam Houston school record for touchdowns in a game with five in an overtime victory over New Mexico last year during the Bearkats’ 14-0 run to the NCAA Division I national championship game.
Kat kicker Miguel Antonio joined in the record-setting spree with eight extra points to become Sam Houston’s all-time kick-scoring leader with 264 points.
He passed Billy Hayes who produced 258 points as a kicker from 1985-88.
Flanders is the only Bearkat to score more points with 300 in his career.
Flanders opened the scoring with a seven-yard touchdown to complete a nine-play, 45 yard set up when the Bearkat defense stopped Lamar for a loss of one on a fourth-and-two attempt at the Cardinal 46.
On the next series, Darnell Taylor knocked the ball out the Cardinal running back hands at the 15-yard line and J. T. Cleveland ran the fumble recovery to the one.
Flanders took one play to score and up SHSU up 14-0.
Another fumble recovery set up the Kats’ third tally.
Jeremy Jackson forced the miscue and Kenneth Jenkins recovered at the Lamar 48.
On the first play after the turnover, Bell founder Diller alone in the Lamar secondary for a 48-yard score with 1:16 left before intermission.
SHSU took only a minute and six seconds to tally its first touchdown of the second period.
On the third play of an 80-yard drive, Flanders broke for a 59-yard score, the junior’s longest run this season and the third longest of his career.
The touchdown marked Flanders seventh run of more than 50 yards during his career.
With 9:56 left in the third, Flanders picked up his fourth touchdown running from the Wild Bearkat formation from 10 yards out.
Keyshawn Hill added a six-yard touchdown after a nine-play, 67-yard drive to put SHSU up 42-0 with 4:38 to play in the third.
Kevin Johnson put Lamar on the scoreboard with an 89-yard kickoff return for a touchdown with 4:36 remaining in the period.
Cody Morgan tallied the final touchdown for Sam Houston on a three-yard run to complete an 80-yard fourth quarter drive.
Sam Houston returns home to play host to Southeastern Louisiana next Saturday at 2 p.m. in the final Bearkat game at Elliott T. Bowers Stadium this season.
Bearkat Volleyball Rolled Through UCA In Four Sets
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
Conway, Ark – Kaylee Hawkins totaled 18 kills as Sam Houston State came from a set down to defeat Central Arkansas 27-29, 25-18, 25-14, 25-19 in a battle for first place in the Southland Conference volleyball race.
The victory extended Sam Houston’s winning streak to 11 matches, the Bearkats’ longest since the program moved up to the NCAA Division I level.
With an 11-2 record, the Kats take a half game lead over Central Arkansas in the 2012 title race.
The Bears dropped to 11-3 in league play.
Sam Houston owns a 16-9 season record while UCA is 23-4 for the year.
Two other Bearkats totaled double figure kills as Kendall Cleveland posted 14 and Deveney Wells-Gibson had 10.
UCA overcame a 14-0 Bearkat lead to take the first set.
But, even after a demanding five-set victory over Oral Roberts Thursday night, the Bearkats charged back to win the next three sets.
“Friday morning, I don’t think we had anything left in the tank after the five-setter at ORU,” head coach Brenda Gray said. “But the girls are hitting on all cylinders now. This was a great team effort and a big win.”
Tayler Gray assisted of 45 of SHSU’s 55 kills.
Haley Neisler totaled seven blocks and Hawkins and Kim Black each had five apiece.