HUNTSVILLE ? Shamir McDaniel hit a three-point basket with 20 seconds remaining to give Sam Houston State a 58-56 Southland Conference men's basketball victory over Stephen F. Austin at Johnson Coliseum Thursday night.
The victory placed Sam Houston is a tie for first place in the Southland Conference West Division. The Bearkats upped their record to 15-3 and 3-2 in SLC action. SFA has an identical 15-3 and 3-2 mark.
Stephen F. Austin led the entire first half, jumping out to a 12-2 margin to start the game. The Lumberjacks took a 27-22 lead into the locker room at intermission and were up seven points, 35-28, with 17 minutes to play.
Ryan Bright, who had only two points at half, started the Bearkats rally with a three-point basket at 15:15. That started an 8-1 run as Sam Houston tied the game 36-36 with 12:40 to play on a layup by DeLuis Ramirez.
The game was tied four more times with the lead changing hands seven times in the final 15 minutes. Gerald Fonzie hit a three-point basket to put SFA up 55-556 with 26 seconds left. Six seconds after a time out, McDaniel scored the game winner. Josh Alexander missed a three pointer at the buzzer for the Lumberjacks.
Alexander was the game's leading scorer with 22 points, going 6-of-10 from the field. All six baskets were three pointers.
Bright led Sam Houston with 11 points and a career high 18 rebounds. McDaniel and John Gardiner each scored 10 points.
Sam Houston struggled from behind the arc most of the game, going 2-for-11 up McDaniel's final shot. The Lumberjacks in the meantime had hit 10-of-18 from long range, but it was McDaniel who came up with the one that mattered most.
“I knew I had to make a play. I was kind of struggling throughout the game, and the team had picked me up,” McDaniel said about his winning 3. “When coach Marlin called the play, I knew I had to step up and make the shot.”
Sam Houston caught SFA when Ryan Bright got rolling in the second half. The senior forward scored eight points to lead the Kats on a 10-3 run and tie the game at 38 with 11:44 left to go.
Rawlins also provided a spark for SHSU off the bench in the second half, scoring eight points down the stretch, including a short pull-up jumper to put the Kats up 55-53 with a minute to go.
After SFA senior guard Gerald Fonzie drilled a 3 to put the Jacks up 56-55 32 seconds later, McDaniel brought the crowd of just under 4,000 to its feet with his game-winner.
“I thought we took SFA's best shot,” Marlin said. “The first half they played extremely well, and the second half they played well too. Our guys played hard, they fought and they never broke. Maybe we should just fall down double figures to start games. Our last two wins we were down 14-2 and 12-2 to start the games.
“We fought and were outscored by seven from 3 (point range). They had 10 and we had three, but we made the one that counted.”
It was a great defensive matchup in the first half, with both teams shooting under 40 percent. The biggest reason the Lumberjacks held a 27-22 lead at the break was Alexander's 3-point shooting. He was 4-of-5 from long range and scored 12 of his game-high 22 points in the period.
But Sam Houston had an offensive explosion in the second, hitting 15-of-29, or 52 percent from the field, while holding SFA to 7-of-22 or 32 percent. The Bearkats also won the battle on the boards 38-27 and dominated in the paint, outscoring the Jacks inside 36-8.
Bright led the Bearkats with 11 points and gobbled up a career-high 18 rebounds in the victory. McDaniel finished with 10 points and was 2-of-3 from 3-point range.
“Rebounding is something I have needed to do, other than scoring,” Bright said. “I have been scoring as well this year, so I need to step up other parts of my game. That is one of the areas my team needs me in ? rebounding.”
Sam Houston out-rebounded SFA 38-27. Gardiner added nine rebounds for the Bearkats.
Sam Houston State's next game is Wednesday, January 30, when the Bearkats play host to Texas-Arlington in a game to be televised to a six state audience by Fox Sports.
SAM HOUSTON ST 58, STEPHEN F AUSTIN 56
1/24/08 7 p.m. at Huntsville, TX (Johnson Coliseum)
STEPHEN F AUSTIN (15-3, SLC 3-2)
Alexander, Josh 6-10 4-5 22; Kingsley, Matt 3-11 5-6 11; Bell, Eric 4-11 0-0
9; Fonzie, Gerald 2-8 0-0 6; Weaver, Scott 1-3 0-0 3; Williams, Eddie 1-4
0-1 2; Akpan, Benson 0-0 2-2 2; Shaw, Nick 0-1 1-2 1; Jacobs, Kyle 0-0 0-0
- Totals 17-48 12-16 56.
-
SAM HOUSTON ST (15-3, SLC 3-2)
Bright, Ryan 4-12 2-3 11; McDaniel, Shamir 4-8 0-0 10; Gardiner, John 5-6
0-0 10; Ramirez, DeLuis 4-9 1-2 9; Mitchell, Ashton 4-9 0-0 8; Rawlins,
Reggie 4-9 0-0 8; Falkner, Barkley 1-2 0-0 2; Kvedys, Domas 0-0 0-0 0; Crow,
Josten 0-0 0-0 0; Thomas, Jeremy 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 26-57 3-5 58.
Stephen F Austin.............. 27 29 - 56
SAM HOUSTON ST................ 22 36 - 58
3-point goals--Stephen F Austin 10-19 (Alexander, Josh 6-9; Fonzie, Gerald
2-6; Bell, Eric 1-2; Weaver, Scott 1-1; Williams, Eddie 0-1), SAM HOUSTON ST
3-12 (McDaniel, Shamir 2-3; Bright, Ryan 1-5; Ramirez, DeLuis 0-1; Mitchell,
Ashton 0-1; Rawlins, Reggie 0-1; Thomas, Jeremy 0-1). Fouled out--Stephen F
Austin-None, SAM HOUSTON ST-None. Rebounds--Stephen F Austin 27 (Alexander,
Josh 6), SAM HOUSTON ST 38 (Bright, Ryan 18). Assists--Stephen F Austin 14
(Bell, Eric 8), SAM HOUSTON ST 21 (Mitchell, Ashton 7). Total fouls--Stephen
F Austin 13, SAM HOUSTON ST 13. Technical fouls--Stephen F Austin-None, SAM
HOUSTON ST-None. A-3958
