With its high octane offense, the Bearkats blew past the Southeastern Louisiana Lions in a 73 – 62 win Saturday night.
Shooting guard Corey Allmond played his best game of the year, scoring a season high 25 points; 18 of which came in the first half alone.
The Lions had no answer for the Kats’ run and gun offense, as the fast break and high arching three pointers set the tempo.
For every point that the Lions made, and every adjustment to the Bearkats’ offense, SHSU head coach Bob Marlin seemed to be one step ahead, countering every step of the way.
The Bearkats improved to 7-8 on the year and 1-1 in the Southland Conference.
“The kids played good, and took a lead into halftime,” Marlin said. “A rough start to the second half put us in a tough spot, but it was a good game.”
The Kats pulled ahead early and refused to let go of the lead. A 14-5 run by the Lions almost cost the team early in the second half. Lions’ forward Warrell Span hit a free throw to bring the game within one point with 13:49 to play, allowing Southeastern to trail 44-43.
Nevertheless, the Bearkats were on top of things as point guard Ashton Mitchell had the teams only double-double, scoring 13 points and dishing out 10 assists.
As the game wore on, the Lions went to a foul first tactic, but the Bearkats continued to hit clutch shots, and put the game far out of reach.
However, the game was only part of the excitement as Marlin won his 189th game in his 11-year career as a Sam Houston State coach. He tied the school record with former coach Archie Porter, who reached the milestone in 1975.
“To be honest I didn’t even know I had reached the mark until one of the assistants told me,” Marlin said.
The Bearkats next game is Wednesday, January 21 at Texas State.