Bearkats extend nation's second-longest home-court winning streak to 43 games on Thursday night with a 61-54 win over Cal-Irvine. With the win, SHSU improves to 10-0 on the season
Shamir McDaniel led the way for Sam Houston State with a game-high 22 points. McDaniel knocked down 4-of-5 from 3-point range, including all three shots he took from outside in the second half.
Ryan Bright was in double figures as well with 10 points and he also grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.
In the first half, the Anteaters led by as many as eight before the Kats got back in the game. DeLuis Ramirez hit a jumper sparking a run of six straight points by SHSU to cut the lead to two. Bright scored with less than two minutes in the half to tie the game for the first time since the 12:23 mark. The Anteaters hit a bucket at the buzzer to take a 27-25 lead at the break.
“We were sluggish in the first half and only scored about 25 points, I think,” McDaniel said. “We I just wanted to come out and create a little spark in the second half. Coach (Bob Marlin) was talking earlier this week about creating your own momentum, and we felt like we needed to get everybody excited and to create some enthusiasm.
“Once we started rolling, we were able to take the game over.”
Early in the second half, McDaniel hit a pair of free-throws, followed by back-to-back 3-pointers to give SHSU a five-point lead and they never looked back. At the 10-minute mark, the Anteaters made it a one-possession game, but Jeremy Thomas knocked down a 3-pointer to get the lead back up to six.
“We talked at halftime that there is always an opportunity in every game that the game is out there and whoever wants to grab it can get it,” Marlin said. “Our team has done a super job of that the past two years, and I told them at halftime that it was there right now. We were very positive as a group and went out in the second half and got the lead.
“We called a time out to let them think about it for a while and we never gave that lead up.”
The Kats will now head out on the road for two tough games in California. They will take on San Diego State on Dec. 28 and then head to Los Angeles for a Dec. 30 contest against Loyola Marymount.
