HUNTSVILLE, TX ? Jeremy Thomas scored 19 points and Ryan Bright added 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead Sam Houston State to an 80-74 Southland Conference men's basketball victory over Texas State-San Marcos Saturday at Johnson Coliseum.

Sam Houston State (21-6, SLC 8-6), trailed by as many as 10 points in the first half and was down 45-39 at intermission. But the Bearkats outscored Texas State-San Marcos (12-16, SLC 5-10) 18-3 in the first 11 minutes of the second half to take a 57-48 lead with 11:43 to play.

The Bobcats came back to take a 65-63 lead on a layup by Brandon Bush with 4:47 to play. The Bearkats went on a 15-11 run to end the game with a victory.

Bush led the Bobcats with 14 points and 8 rebounds.

I thought they just outplayed us in the first half and deserved to have the lead,” SHSU head coach Bob Marlin said. “We gave up 61 percent shooting. We gave up way too many points. We talked about it at the break and got off to a quick start in the second half by coming up with some stops.

“We played much better defensively in the second half and that was the difference in the game.”

The Bearkats opened the final period with a 9-0 run to put them up 48-45. Bright knocked in a couple of easy layups, Shamir McDaniel buried a 3-pointer (his only basket of the night) and center Domas Kvedys followed up his own miss to give SHSU its first lead since the opening minutes of the game.

In the meantime, the Bobcats (12-16, 5-10) couldn't get any shots to fall and hit only one field goal in the first 10 and a half minutes of the second period.

“We just really turned the intensity up in the second half, and that has really been the key for us all year ? defense,” Bright said. “Coach told us before the game that we would be able to score on them that it was a matter of stopping them. We did that in the second half.”

It looked like Sam Houston was about to run away with the game when Rawlins hit back-to-back layups and Thomas drained a jumper to make it 57-48. But Texas State went on a 15-3 run to retake the lead 63-60 on consecutive 3-pointers by Brent Holder and Dylan Moseley with under seven minutes to go.

The Kats were able to make some plays down the stretch when Bright sparked a small run with a steal and one-handed slam on the other end before hitting a long-range bomb to push the lead back to four at 71-67 at the 2:48 mark.

Sam Houston only shot 38 percent but hit nine treys in the win, six coming in the first half that kept Texas State in striking distance. Thomas finished 4-of-10 from long range to pace the Bearkats.

“I had one that came off one of our plays and another that somebody made a great pass on,” said Thomas, who provided a lift in the first half by going a 3-for-5 from 3-point land. “They got me going early. I got some open looks and was able to knock them in. I'm just trying to do whatever I can to help the team.”

The Kats trailed by as many as 10 in the first half and it looked like it was going to stay that way heading into the break when Texas State's Ryan White hit a floater in the lane to make it 45-35 with under two minutes left.

But Sam Houston State got a shot in the arm from freshman guard Josten Crow that set the tempo for the second half. With about 20 seconds left in the half, Crow came up with a steal, drove down the court then found an open Mitchell for a wide-open 3-pointer to cut the lead to 45-39.

“That was a huge play for us,” Marlin said. “Josten gave us eight solid minutes tonight and he played well at Texas-Arlington the other night, scoring five points in the first half. He came up with that steal and found Ashton. It was a big play.

“It was a team effort. Jeremy and Ashton hit some big shots, Reggie stepped up when we needed him, Barkley (Falkner) hit some free throws and Domas hit another 3.”
 

SAM HOUSTON ST 80, TEXAS ST-SAN MARCOS 74

3/1/08 7 p.m. at Huntsville, TX (Johnson Coliseum)

TEXAS ST-SAN MARCOS (12-16, SLC 5-10)

Bush, Brandon 5-11 2-2 14; Gough, Ty 3-5 3-5 9; Moseley, Dylan 2-4 3-5 9;

Thomas, Brandon 4-4 0-6 8; Jefferson, Corey 3-4 0-0 8; Holder, Brent 2-9 2-2

7; White, Ryan 2-4 2-2 6; Benson, Brent 1-5 3-4 5; Johnson, Cameron 2-4 0-3

4; Fullenwider, Matt 1-2 0-0 2; Taylor, Gordon 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 26-54 15-29

74.

SAM HOUSTON ST (21-6, SLC 8-6)

Thomas, Jeremy 6-14 3-4 19; Bright, Ryan 7-14 2-3 17; Mitchell, Ashton 4-11

3-4 13; Rawlins, Reggie 4-7 2-2 10; Kvedys, Domas 2-5 1-2 6; Gardiner, John

2-2 2-4 6; Falkner, Barkley 0-2 5-6 5; McDaniel, Shamir 1-9 0-0 3; Crow,

Josten 0-1 1-2 1; Ramirez, DeLuis 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 26-69 19-27 80.

Texas St-San Marcos...........   45   29  -   74

SAM HOUSTON ST................   39   41  -   80

3-point goals--Texas St-San Marcos 7-19 (Jefferson, Corey 2-2; Moseley,

Dylan 2-4; Bush, Brandon 2-2; Holder, Brent 1-6; Benson, Brent 0-3; White,

Ryan 0-2), SAM HOUSTON ST 9-27 (Thomas, Jeremy 4-10; Mitchell, Ashton 2-5;

Kvedys, Domas 1-1; McDaniel, Shamir 1-6; Bright, Ryan 1-3; Ramirez, DeLuis

0-1; Rawlins, Reggie 0-1). Fouled out--Texas St-San Marcos-None, SAM HOUSTON

ST-None. Rebounds--Texas St-San Marcos 39 (Bush, Brandon 8), SAM HOUSTON ST

44 (Bright, Ryan 10). Assists--Texas St-San Marcos 18 (Jefferson, Corey 5),

SAM HOUSTON ST 22 (Mitchell, Ashton 6; McDaniel, Shamir 6). Total

fouls--Texas St-San Marcos 25, SAM HOUSTON ST 19. Technical fouls--Texas

St-San Marcos-None, SAM HOUSTON ST-Team. A-1580