Box Score

HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Southeastern Louisiana University's Brandon Fortenberry scored a game-high 22 points as he moved into eighth-place on the school's all-time scoring list, but Sam Houston State built a 12-point halftime lead and held on for a 54-45 victory on Saturday in a Southland Conference contest at Johnson Coliseum.

James Thomas scored 15 points for SHSU (15-14, 8-8 SLC) while Darius Gatson, Marquel McKinney and Paul Baxter scored eight points each as the Bearkats built a 17-point lead and held on after Southeastern (10-17, 8-8 SLC) closed the gap to 45-39 with 4:21 left.

Fortenberry, who finished 9-for-18 from the floor, increased his career scoring total to 1,269 points, moving past former teammate Patrick Sullivan (1,264 points from 2006-10) into eighth place. The fifth-year senior dished out five assists to increase his career total to 409, second in school history behind Leo McClure's 433 assists from 1973-77, while adding his 105th career steal to move past former Lion and current Harlem Globetrotter Nate Lofton into ninth place.

The Lions struggled offensively to open the game as SHSU built a 6-0 lead on 3-pointers by Baxter and McKinney. Buckets by Roosevelt Johnson and Fortenberry got the Lions as close as 6-4 before a pair of buckets by Thomas and a 3-pointer by Gaston gave SHSU a 13-4 lead.

Fortenberry, who scored 11 of Southeastern's 15 points in the first half, helped the Lions get as close as 16-11 on a bucket with 8:55 remaining before a 3-pointer by Nathaniel Mason began an 11-4 run to take a 27-15 lead at halftime.

The Bearkats took a 41-24 lead with 11:54 remaining when Michael Holyfield scored on a bucket in the lane before the Lions went on a 11-0 run to close to within 41-35.

A short jumper by Roger Woods and back-to-back 3-pointers by Jeffery Ricard cut the lead to 41-32 before Fortenberry scored on a bucket and added a free throw with 7:48 left. But Thomas, who finished 7-for-14 from the floor, responded with a pair of buckets to push the SHSU lead to 45-35 and the Bearkats held on from there.

Ricard added eight points for Southeastern while Woods added six points and a team-high nine rebounds. The Lions finished 18-for-50 (36.0 percent) from the floor with six 3-pointers, but were 3-for-9 from the free throw line.

Gatson, playing in his final game at home for SHSU, pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds as the Bearkats held a 39-25 advantage on the glass. SHSU finished 17-for-42 (40.5 percent) from the floor and made 7 of 14 attempts from behind the 3-point line in earning the win.

Southeastern, which will make its ninth appearance in the past 10 seasons in the Southland Conference Tournament, will close out the regular-season with a pair of home games beginning Thursday against McNeese State in a 7:15 p.m. contest. The Lions will celebrate Senior Day on Saturday when it faces Lamar in a 4 p.m. contest.