Fresno State
Bearkats top Fresno State 68-57
11/22/2007 1:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
HUNTSVILLE -- DeLuis Ramirez scored 14 points and Ryan Bright pulled down a career high 14 rebounds to lead Sam Houston State to a 68-57 non-conference men's basketball victory over Fresno State Saturday night at Johnson Coliseum.
The Bearkats led wire-to-wire, hitting 25 of 56 field goals for a 44.8 shooting percentage while holding Fresno State to a 27.7 shooting percentage (18 of 65). The Bulldogs went 3 of 24 from three point range.
Coach Steve Cleveland's Bulldogs rolled up a 22-10 record last year to earn an National Invitational Tournament (NIT) post-season berth. Among those 22 victories was a 78-60 victory over the Bearkats in the ESPN Bracket Busters event in Fresno on Feb. 17, 2007.
Shamir McDaniel added 13 points and Bright scored 11 for Sam Houston State (4-0) as the Bearkats extended the nation's third longest home court non-conference winning streak to 40 victories. Sam Houston has not lost a non-conference game at Johnson Coliseum since a 73-70 loss to Texas A&M in Bob Marlin's first year as Sam Houston State coach in 1998-99. Only Duke, with 53 consecutive victories, and Utah State, with 47, have longer streaks.
Both McDaniel and Bright finished the night with a double-double, with McDaniel grabbing 11 rebounds.
The Kats got off to a hot start, scoring the first five points of the game. Fresno State cut the lead to one at 13-12, but James Barrett responded by scoring the next eight points of the game.
Sam Houston led 34-29 at intermission, but Fresno State opened the second half with a 6-0 run to cut the Bearkat margin to one point, 36-35, on Kevin Bell's lay-up at 18:07. But Barrett scored on a lay-up on Sam Houston's next possession and the Bulldogs never got that close again. Barrett joined Bright, Ramirez and McDaniel in double-digit scoring with 11.
The Bearkats' largest lead of the game was 18 points, 62-44, with 5:38 to play on a lay-up by Barrett.
Sam Houston outrebounded Fresno State 48-38. Sam Houston State next plays host to Hardin-Simmons Thursday night at 7 p.m.
