This past week, Sam Houston State University basketball (19-7, 10-4) won a pair of games to put them in favorable position in the Southland Conference.
On Saturday night, the men’s basketball team won a thriller over UT-San Antonio 90-87 in Johnson Coliseum. The victory put them in sole possession of second place in the SLC. If the Kats can win out, they will get that number two seed for conference tournament play.
Jejuan Plair led the Bearkats with 20 points, and Chris Jordan was on fire as he finished the game with 19. For the Roadrunners, Andre Owens proved why he was the second highest scorer in the conference as he put down 26 for UT-SA.
The Kats had a lead for the majority of the game, but it was continually cut to one throughout the second half. It was a three-point contest with 1.7 seconds remaining and UT-SA possession, but Jeremy Thomas came through for the Bearkats again as he made a steal at half court to put the Roadrunners down for good.
“Every game from here on out is important,” said Jejuan Plair. “We control our own destiny now. If we win out and take care of business, we get those home games [in the tournament].”
The game was also marred by fouls for both squads. The Kats had six players record three fouls or more, and the Roadrunners had eight players in the same situation, including three that fouled out.
“They have a good basketball team. Every time we play UT-SA we have a barnburner, and tonight was no exception,” said SHSU Coach Bob Marlin.
“They got out of the gates well, then we finally slowed them down somewhat and we got hot and built a little bit of a lead going into halftime.”
On Thursday night, it was Kats vs. Cats in a feline fiasco at Johnson Coliseum. Sam Houston de-clawed the Cats 75-61 in a game where Jeremy Thomas recorded a new career high.
The game was close throughout the first half, but it was the three-point shooting of Jeremy Thomas that would keep the Kats ahead. Thomas tied his previous career high of 12 points in the first half alone and then scored five in the second stanza to give him 17 on the night.
“They ran a lot of zone, they left it up to us to play well outside,” said Jeremy Thomas. “In the second half, defense was a big key to us. Our defense helps out our offense a whole lot.”
This week, the Kats travel to UT-Arlington on Wednesday night, and then will be back at Johnson on Saturday night to take on arch-rival S.F.A. at 5 p.m.