The Sam Houston State University Bearkats (17-9, 12-1) were defeated
by the Lamar University Cardinals (14-12, 7-6) Saturday evening 75-72, ending
the team’s quest at an undefeated Southland Conference season.
In the first half there was not much that went the Bearkats
way offensively. The team shot just 32
percent from the floor in the first half, and turned the ball over 12 times,
which led to 16 Cardinal points.
“I thought the big difference tonight was just our
turnovers,” head coach Jason Hooten said. “We got outscored by nine in points
off turnovers, so to me that was really the biggest thing.”
Early in the first half the Bearkats were able to make up
for their offensive woes with strong defense.
Neither the Bearkats nor the Cardinals even got into double digits until
senior guard Marcus Harris hit a three with 8:27 left in the first half to put
the Bearkats ahead 12-9. The Bearkats
and Cardinals stayed tight with each other until the final five minutes of the
half. After two free throws by Harris
tied the score at 19 with 5:17 remaining the Cardinals began their push.
The Cardinals got things going at the free throw line with
four consecutive free throws by junior forwards Josh Nzeakor and Christian Barrett
to make it 23-19. Two possessions later
a three pointer by senior guard Nick Garth made the score 26-21, and that is
when the floodgates opened for the Cardinals.
From that point on it was freshman guard Davion Buster that took over for
the Cardinals. Buster began with a fast
break layup, then followed that with an off the dribble three on the next
possession. After a stop the Cardinals went right back to Buster who hit his
third shot in a row to make it 35-23 with 1:55 left in the first half. After having
just four points in Southland play all season, Buster led the Cardinals with 12
first half points, as they took a 41-26 lead into halftime.
“I thought in the first half we put ourselves in a hole,
being down 15,” Hooten said. “I felt like we were still in the game.”
In the second half the Bearkats came out of the locker room
with a renewed energy and focus. The
game plan was obvious, give the ball to junior forward Kai Mitchell and let him
go to work. Mitchell had 16 of his team
high 17 points in the second half, and fueled a second half surge. It took only 39 seconds for Mitchell to
connect on his first shot of the game, and that was all he needed to get things
going, as he scored six of the team’s first eight points.
“We gotta keep feeding Kai, he’s obviously a problem down
there for people,” Hooten said “I thought in the second half he was the person
that put us on his back, and really got us back in the game.”
Regardless of what Mitchell and the Bearkats did, there was
one thing the team did not have an answer for, and that was the free throw line
for the Cardinals. Lamar shot 24 free throws in the second half alone compared
to the Bearkats’ eight attempts. The
Cardinals converted on 17 of their 24 attempts, and seemed to half any Bearkat
rally with trips to the free throw line. The Bearkats kept coming, and it
seemed they were ready to take the game over with 4:57 left when Mitchell
grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back in to make the game 60-58, and
give his team all the momentum. On the ensuing possession junior guard Chad
Bowie forced a steal, and the Bearkats had a chance to tie the game after
senior guard Josh Delaney was fouled, Delaney though missed both attempts. The Bearkats did look like they were going to
have one more chance to steal the game after a Harris three pointer made it
68-67 with one minute left. The
Cardinals had answer, in the form of Garth.
With the shot clock winding down Garth released a heavily contested
three pointer from well behind the line and hit nothing but the net, and gave
the Cardinals a 71-67 lead. The Bearkats
did have one last chance to tie it, but they could not get a shot off before
the buzzer and fell 75-72.
Up next the team will be back home Wednesday to take on the
Nicholls State University Colonels.