A team is only good as its bench.
For Sam Houston State men’s basketball Monday, that was key.
The Bearkats defeated Abilene Christian 71-49 to add to ACU’s nine-game losing streak and improve the Kats to a seven-game win streak.
Sophomore forward Aurimas Majauskas led the Bearkat scorers coming off the bench with 18 points and nine rebounds. Sophomore guard Dakarai Henderson also added 11 points with three steals as a sub.
“Aurimas would probably start on other teams in our league,” head coach Jason Hooten said. “He has a guy who has NBA teams calling me once a week playing in front of him, so it’s kind of hard. He’s been a really good player for us and I am excited about the future.”
Dominating the glass was the key for the Bearkats out-rebounding ACU 40-27. That caused the Kats to get more second chance opportunities to help capture the win. The Wildcats had no answer against senior center Michael Holyfield on the boards. Holyfield totaled 12 rebounds along with 12 points to register a double-double. ACU is dead last in the Southland Conference in team rebounding with only 29.8 rebounds per game.
ACU had a tough time finding a rhythm on the offensive side of the ball. Their regular season leading scorer Harrison Hawkins only had four points on the night. The Bearkats were able to create havoc on the defensive end forcing ACU to turn the ball over 18 times. SHSU was able to take care of the ball and only had seven turnovers for the game.
The Kats improve their record to 21-5 and 12-1 in the Southland Conference as they hit the road to Central Arkansas. The Bears only have one win one for the season and ranks last in the SLC. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. Saturday.