Photo Courtesy of the Sam Houston Athletics Department

Sam Houston Bearkat men’s basketball cooled off a hot Seattle U Redhawk offense as they won Thursday night 55-40.

Coming into the game the Redhawks (16-5, 7-1) averaged 74 points per game in conference play.

The Bearkats (16-5, 6-3) on the defensive side allowed on average 69.5 points per game in conference.

The Sam Houston defense had not been what it was earlier in the college basketball season. It is what head coach Jason Hooten wants first and foremost.

The defense did show up.

The Bearkats held the Redhawks 9-of-50, or 18%, from the field.

Their scoring leader redshirt junior Cameron Tyson was held to just 10 points.

On several occasions Seattle U went without a field goal for at least 10 minutes.

It was defensive domination by Sam Houston.

It was not just the defense that worked.

Ever since the loss of junior guard Jaden Ray due to injury there were questions whether if the bench will step up.

They did as they scored 28 points, more than half of the team’s total.

Nine of those came from sophomore guard Damon Nicholas Jr. on 4-of-5 shooting from the field in just 12 minutes of play.

Senior guard Donte Powers continued his good play with a game high 13 points while also going 3-for-3 from the arc.

In nine conference game Powers has scored in double digits in seven of them.

Even though he only scored two points on a night where his shooting was not there, senior transfer guard Qua Grant hit season highs in rebounds with 14 and assists with nine.

Grant told Hooten he would give him everything he has got and seems to be proven to his word.

This win is big considering the new Western Athletic Conference Resume Standings where it will determine the seeding of the conference tournament in Las Vegas.

The Kats were the third seed. They are now the first.

Hooten and his squad will have a long break before beginning a three game road trip.

First stop is Edinburg, Texas, where they will take on the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros (10-11, 1-7) on Wednesday.

The game will be on ESPN+ and on the radio airwaves of 101.7 KSAM.

Tip-off is at 6:30 p.m. CT.