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.
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.”
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.