Bearkats rally past Lions, 67-62

HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Sam Houston State overcame a 15-point first half deficit to edge the Southeastern Louisiana men’s basketball team, 67-62, Wednesday night at Johnson Coliseum.

The Lions (4-12, 1-3 Southland) were led by sophomore Ty Brewer with 19 points, including four three-pointers. Von Julien and Pape Diop each added 11 for SLU while Julien also added to his conference-leading 74 assists with seven tonight.

The Bearkats (11-5, 4-1 Southland) got 19 points from first team preseason All-Southland selection Kai Mitchell. While no other player for SHSU scored in double figures, 10 different players scored for the Bearkats.

SLU opened the game on fire jumping out to a 12-2 lead over Sam Houston, the reigning Southland Conference regular season champions. After the Bearkats cut the Lions lead to 22-21, SLU exploded on a 16-2 run highlighted by a three-pointer by Julien and a windmill dunk by Brewer giving the Lions a 38-23 lead, their biggest of the night. Southeastern maintained a 13-point lead at halftime, 38-25.

The Lions shot 8-for-13 from the three-point line in the first half on their way to the double-digit halftime lead.

SHSU slowly battled back in the second half. The Lions opened the half cold missing 15 of their first 18 shots allowing the Bearkats to get back in the game. SHSU took their first lead of the night when Zach Nutall slammed down an alley hoop off an inbound pass giving the Bearkats a 50-49 lead with 7:47 to go. Moments later, the Lions regained the lead, 54-51, after a baseline jumper and a three-pointer by Brewer.

The Bearkats responded going on a 10-2 run to take their biggest lead of the game, 61-56, with 2:46 remaining. Julien kept the Lions’ hopes alive drilling a three-pointer from the corner with 2:20 to go. But SHSU scored a layup and convert two free throws in the final minute to hold off SLU.

“Disappointed in the loss of course,” said SLU men’s head basketball coach David Kiefer. “But we did an excellent job on the defensive end all night and our press was really good. We made them work every time up the floor. But they just made a few more plays than us at the end with some loose balls. We missed a few box outs and a few rebounds. But there was two or three times that the ball just kind of bounced around and the ball just landed in their guys hands for a basket. Credit to Sam Houston though, when you jump out on the reigning Southland Conference Champions the way we did in their house, we knew they weren’t going to just lay down. But we will continue to learn from games like this and get better every game.”

The Lions finished the game 12-for-23 from the three-point line but SLU tied a season-high with 21 turnovers leading to 19 points off turnovers for the Bearkats. The two teams battled evenly on the glass at 31-31. However, SHSU’s bench outscored SLU’s 29-7.

Southeastern and Sam Houston will face off again Wednesday, Feb. 12 at the University Center in Hammond, Louisiana.

Next up, Southeastern will take on Nicholls (10-6, 4-1 Southland) Saturday afternoon at home at 4 p.m. The Colonels defeated Lamar, 61-52, Wednesday night on the road.

Fans can follow the play-by-play of Saturday’s game on 90.9 FM KSLU. The Southeastern Sports Network will offer a free video stream of Thursday’s game. Tune in online at www.LionSports.net or the Lions’ Gameday Experience app for Android or iOS devices. Fans can also watch on Southeastern’s YouTube channel (SLUathletics) with any mobile, tablet or smart TV device (e.g., Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Android TV and Roku).

HARDWOOD CLUB/S CLUB
Fans interested in becoming active supporters of the basketball program are encouraged to join the Hardwood Club. Lion alums are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, which is restricted to Southeastern athletic letterwinners. All membership fees and donations to Hardwood Club are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern basketball program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or visiting www.LionUp.com.

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SAM HOUSTON ST. 67, SOUTHEASTERN LA 62
SOUTHEASTERN LA (4-11,1-3 Southland)
Brewer, Ty 7-9 0-0 18; Diop, Pape 3-5 5-6 11; Julien, Von 4-9 0-0 11; LaQuan
Butler 3-13 0-0 9; Byron Smith 2-9 1-2 6; Isiah Kirby 2-5 0-0 5; Maxwell Starwood 1-2 0-0 2; Caldwell, Nick 0-0 0-2 0; Maxim Romanov 0-2 0-0 0.
Totals 22-54 6-10 62.

SAM HOUSTON ST. (11-5,4-1 Southla)
Kai Mitchell 9-16 1-4 19; Zach Nutall 4-9 0-0 8; Chad Bowie 3-8 2-2 8; Xavier Bryant 2-4 4-4 8; Bubba Furlong 3-4 1-2 7; Demarkus Lampley 3-9 0-0 6; Mark Tikhonenko 1-1 0-0 3; Dainan Swoope 1-8 0-0 3; Terryonte Thomas 1-2 0-0 3; Dajuan Jones 0-0 2-2 2; Cyrus Johnson 0-0 0-0 0; RJ Smith 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-62 10-14 67.

Southeastern La……………. 38 24 – 62
Sam Houston St……………. 25 42 – 67

3-point goals–Southeastern La 12-23 (Brewer, Ty 4-5; LaQuan Butler 3-7; Julien, Von 3-3; Isiah Kirby 1-3; Byron Smith 1-4; Maxim Romanov 0-1), Sam Houston St. 3-20 (Dainan Swoope 1-6; Terryonte Thomas 1-1; Mark Tikhonenko
1-1; Xavier Bryant 0-1; Demarkus Lampley 0-5; RJ Smith 0-1; Chad Bowie 0-3; Zach Nutall 0-2). Fouled out–Southeastern La-None, Sam Houston St.-None. Rebounds–Southeastern La 31 (Brewer, Ty 7), Sam Houston St. 31 (Kai Mitchell 6). Assists–Southeastern La 15 (Julien, Von 7), Sam Houston St. 17 (Dajuan Jones 5). Total fouls–Southeastern La 20, Sam Houston St. 15.
Technical fouls–Southeastern La-None, Sam Houston St.-None. A-646