HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Southeastern Louisiana junior forward
Moses Greenwood had his third double-double of the season but Sam Houston State pulled away in the final 3:35 for a 75-65 Southland Conference victory in the Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum Wednesday night.
The Lions (12-9, 6-2 Southland) trailed 62-59 with 3:35 left before the Bearkats (12-9, 6-2 Southland) went on a 12-2 run over the next 3:07.
Southeastern, which was trying to match the 2004-05 squad for the best eight-game Southland start in school history, lost for the first time on the road in four conference games. Sam Houston extended its win streak over the Lions to seven games while moving to 4-0 at home in Southland play. The Bearkats have now won 15 of the past 17 meetings to take a 29-15 lead in the series.
Greenwood finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Junior guard
Marlain Veal added 10 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. Senior guards
Joshua Filmore and
Eddy Polanco had nine points apiece. The Lions shot 41.4 percent for the game, but just 38.7 percent in the second half.
Chris Galbreath Jr. had a double-double for Sam Houston with a game-high 25 points and 10 rebounds. John Dewey III contributed 18 points while Marcus Harris had 13. The Bearkats shot 45.3 percent overall, 54.3 percent in out-scoring Southeastern 48-33 in the second half. Sam Houston also won the rebounding battle 38-36 and committed just five turnovers.
Veal hit two free throws to bring Southeastern to within three with 3:35 left. But Galbreath and Abrian Edwards answered with jumpers on the next two possessions. Edwards added a layup and Harris hit two free throws to cap an 8-0 run that gave Sam Houston a 70-59 lead with 50 seconds remaining. Veal ended the run with a layup with 44 seconds left but Edwards and Galbreath both hit two free throws in the final 39 seconds.
Southeastern led by as many as 11 in the first half and held a 32-27 lead at the break. Sam Houston took its first lead at 35-34 on a Dewey layup with 16:54 remaining. The Bearkats went up 40-34 on a Harris 3 at the 15:24 mark before a pair of layups by senior forward
James Currington and two Greenwood free throws tied it at 40 with 13:57 left.
A Greenwood layup tied it for the final time at 51 at the 8:35 mark. Sam Houston then went on a 7-2 run to take a 60-53 lead on a three-point play by Dewey with 5:25 left.
Filmore had seven points and Greenwood went in for a layup as Southeastern jumped out to a 13-4 lead with 13:55 left in the first half. A Josh Delaney 3 cut the margin to three with 11:54 remaining. But Polanco converted a four-point play after being fouled on a 3 from the left wing, then added a tip-in to give Southeastern a 23-12 lead at the 10:13 mark.
Sam Houston used an 11-2 run to get to within 25-23 on a Galbreath jumper with 4:14 remaining. Veal tipped in a rebound at the buzzer to give Southeastern the five-point halftime margin.
UP NEXT
Southeastern concludes its two-game road trip with a visit to Nicholls Saturday for the ESPN3 Southland Conference Game of the Week at 6:30 p.m. in Thibodaux.
