HUNTSVILLE, Texas – League-leading Sam Houston got 26 points from Bryce Monroe as SHSU pulled away from the Southeastern Louisiana men's basketball team, 79-61, Wednesday night at Johnson Coliseum.
The Lions (6-12, 4-4 Southland) were led by junior
Gus Okafor who recorded his second double-double of the season with 18 points and 12 rebounds. SLU's leading scorer on the season
Keon Clergeot, added 14 points while sophomore
Isiah Kirby chipped in with 11 points and eight rebounds.
The Bearkats (15-6, 9-1 Southland) followed Monroe's hot hand as he finished 7-for-11 from the field, including 4-for-6 from the three-point line and 8-for-8 at the free throw line. DeMarkus Lampley aided SHSU with 16 points while Javion May added 11 points and nine rebounds, including 7-for-10 from the free throw line.
Early on, SLU had the game at their pace as they battered the Bearkats in the paint getting to the free throw line 18 times in the first half (12-for-18). However, Sam Houston took a 28-20 lead late in the first half as they hit four first half three-pointers while SLU 0-for-7 from long range in the first 20 minutes.
Southeastern cut the deficit to 28-24 with 1:25 left in the first half, but the Bearkats hit seven straight free throws to take a 35-24 halftime lead.
In the second half, the Lions fell behind 45-28 with 13:53 to go. Southeastern fought back going on a 10-2 run to cut the Bearkats' lead to single digits, 47-38, with 12:02 to go. But that was as close as the Lions got the rest of the way as Sam Houston slowly pulled away for the win.
Despite the loss, the Lions' defense did its job holding Lampley (19.9 ppg in league play) and Zach Nutall (19.4 ppg), two of the top three scorers in the Southland, to a combined 5-for-18 shooting for 18 points.
Southeastern also outrebounded the Bearkats, 40-31, and ripped down 19 offensive rebounds. However, the Lions shot just 17-for-50 from the field for 34 percent, 24-for-38 (63 percent) from the free throw line and had 20 turnovers.
Sam Houston shot 24-for-52 from the field for 46 percent, 8-for-24 (33 percent) from the three-point line and 23-for-31 from the free throw line.
The Bearkats improved to 10-0 at home this season as they defeated the Lions for the 10 time in 11 games.
Next up, Southeastern will return home to face Nicholls (11-6, 8-2 Southland) Saturday night at approximately 7 p.m. in the second half of a double header following the SLU women's game vs. Nicholls.
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.
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Southeastern Basketball, follow @LionUpMBB and @DavidKieferSLU on Twitter, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube channel.
TICKETS
For ticket information, please contact the Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466 or visit
www.LionSports.net/tickets. Southeastern is implementing mobile ticketing as the primary source for securing tickets for the 2020-21 season. All tickets will be available via e-mail in a PDF format for fans to download on their phone or print at home. Tickets can also be downloaded to Apple Wallet.
