There was no play drawn up but that didn’t stop Shamir McDaniel. The energetic Bearkat hit pay dirt with a dramatic bucket and a foul with 16 seconds left in overtime to propel the Bearkats to a 66-62 win over Southeastern Louisiana Thursday night.
The win puts Sam Houston at 16-6 overall and 7-3 in conference play. McDaniel was not the only Bearkat to step up in crunch time.
Freshman Reggie Rawlins hit a free throw to tie the game at 56 with 19 seconds left in regulation.
After a Lion turnover, a Chris Jordan runner could not give the Kats the regulation win. But, defense was the name of the game in overtime, as the Kats allowed the Lions only one field goal in the extra stanza.
“We played a tremendous defensive game tonight,” said SE Louisiana coach Jim Yarbrough. “But so did [the Bearkats].”
The Lions shot 44 percent from the field but were stone cold from beyond the arc, going 0-9 on the evening.
The Lions, normally at the top of the SLC in three-point shooting at 39 percent per game, laid a goose egg on the stat sheet.
One bright spot for the Lions was the play of Ricky Woods. The pre-season all-SLC player scored 17 points and grabbed 18 rebounds.
The Bearkats also had a few bright spots, as Jejuan Plair had 10 points and seven assists. Ryan Bright scored 13 and grabbed eight boards.
Senior Chris Jordan fell short of the 1,000 point plateau but is now only nine points away from the record books.
“It took a team effort to win this game,” said Coach Marlin of his Bearkats. “When they step between the lines, they work pretty hard.”
The Kats face a tough road test this week as they travel to Lamar and to McNeese State. Once the Kats move past this week, they will have a two game home stand against Texas State-San Marcos and University of Texas-San Antonio, the latter of which will be broadcast on Fox Sports Southwest.
The next contest against Lamar will be this Wednesday in Beaumont at 7 p.m.