Box Score

Box Score

KATY, Texas – Joston Crow's layup with 12.4 seconds remaining snapped an 85-85 tie and Southeastern Louisiana was whistled for a critical turnover on the ensuing possession as top-seeded Sam Houston State rallied to defeat the Lions, 88-85, in the semifinals of the 2010 State Farm Southland Conference Tournament on Thursday at the Merrell Center.

SHSU (24-7) advanced to face second-seeded Stephen F. Austin (23-8) in the championship game scheduled for Saturday at 3:05 p.m. SFA advanced after defeating Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 60-53, in the earlier semifinal contest.

Southeastern, one of two Division I schools in the state of Louisiana to post a winning record, held an 83-78 lead on two free throws by Jason Marks with 3:05 remaining. The Bearkats scored the next seven points as Crow hit two free throws, Ashton Mitchell scored on a layup and Lance Pevehouse drained a 3-pointer for an 85-83 lead with 1:13 left.

The Lions tied the game on a jumper by Patrick Sullivan with 46.2 seconds left before Crow scored his eventual game-winner.

On the ensuing inbounds pass, Gary Dixon was whistled for over-and-back with 7.2 seconds remaining and Pevehouse sank one of two free throws after the Lions quickly fouled.

Pevehouse missed the second attempt and the Lions quickly got the ball down the floor, but Brandon Fortenberry's 3-point attempt at the buzzer was short.

The second meeting between the schools in the postseason saw 12 ties and 17 lead changes, including 12 in the second half. Neither team led by more than six points as the Bearkats built a 31-25 lead on a three-point play by Corey Allmond. SHSU led, 44-41, at halftime as the Bearkats sank five 3-pointers in the opening period.

Southeastern scored the first four points of the second half to claim a 45-44 lead before SHSU answered with a 10-3 run for a 54-48 lead. Preston Brown and Allmond capped the run for the Bearkats with 3-pointers before the Lions closed the gap with a 7-0 run.

David Ndoumba opened the spurt for Southeastern with a layup before Dixon drained a 3-pointer that got the Lions to within 54-53. Ndoumba was fouled on Southeastern's next possession and the junior made both free throws that put the Lions ahead, 55-54, with 15:22 left.

Southeastern later would snap a 76-76 deadlock, the 11th tie of the game, as Marks sank a free throw to convert a three-point play with 4:54 left and Sullivan added a jumper for a 79-76 lead with 4:18 left.

Gilberto Clavell, SHSU's leading scorer entering the game, cut the lead to 79-78 on a short bucket but the Southland Conference Newcomer of the Year would foul out on the Lions' next possession at the 3:47 mark.

Robert Tibbs made both free throws for Southeastern and Marks would later sink a pair of free throws that gave the Lions an 83-78 lead.

Dixon scored 16 points to lead five players in double figures for Southeastern. Deshawn Patterson added 15 points and four assists for the Lions, who finished 28-for-52 (53.8 percent) from the floor.

Sullivan, who played his final game in a Southeastern uniform, posted his 22nd career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. The senior blocked six shots to finish with a school-record 277 in his career while becoming the third player in school history to record 800 career rebounds (801). Sullivan, who played in a school-record 120 games in his four-year career, also moved into seventh-place on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,283 points as he passed former Lion Amir Abdur-Rahim.

Marks and Ndoumba scored 11 points each for Southeastern while the Lions blocked 13 shots – one off the school and tournament record.

Mitchell and Allmond scored 18 points each for SHSU, which made 11 3-pointers and scored 30 points off 21 Southeastern turnovers. Clavell added 16 points for the Bearkats while Pevehouse added 14 and Preston Brown 12.

SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA (19-12)
Dixon 6-8 2-2 16; Patterson 5-11 4-4 15; Sullivan 7-10 0-0 14; Marks 3-3 5-5 11; Ndoumba 3-5 5-6 11; Johnson 2-5 4-4 8; Tibbs 0-0 4-6 4; Hutchin 1-4 0-0 3; Fortenberry 1-6 1-1 3; Burches 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-52 25-28 85.

SAM HOUSTON STATE (24-7)
Mitchell 6-14 3-6 18; Allmond 6-12 3-4 18; Clavell 5-9 6-8 16; Pevehouse 4-9 3-6 14; Brown 4-8 2-2 12; Crow 3-5 2-2 8; Bootle 1-7 0-0 2; Zulu 0-0 0-0 0; Cooper 0-1 0-0 0; Murray 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 29-67 19-28 88.

Halftime – SHSU 44, SLU 41. 3-point goals – SLU 4-10 (Dixon 2-4; Patterson 1-2; Hutchin 1-2; Fortenberry 0-2), SHSU 11-23 (Allmond 3-8; Pevehouse 3-4; Mitchell 3-4; Brown 2-5; Murray 0-1; Crow 0-1). Fouled out - Clavell. Rebounds – SLU 34 (Sullivan 10), SHSU 35 (Crow 9). Assists – SLU 13 (Fortenberry, Patterson 4), SHSU 20 (Mitchell 7). Total fouls – SLU 26, SHSU 23. Technical fouls - None. A – 1,343.