HUNTSVILLE, TX ? John Gardiner scored a career high 19 points to lead Sam Houston State to a 68-37 Southland Conference men's basketball victory over Texas-San Antonio Wednesday night at Johnson Coliseum.
Sam Houston (22-6, SLC 10-5) never trailed, jumping out to an 18-5 lead at the 12:16 mark in the first half. The Bearkats led 30-13 at halftime. UTSA never came closer than 12 points in the second half.
Texas-San Antonio (13-15, SLC 7-8) was led by Melvin Smith with 14 points.
The contest marked the final home appearance for the Bearkats' four seniors -- Ryan Bright, Shamir McDaniel, Jeremy Thomas, and Gardiner.
Gardiner hit 8-of-8 from the field and 3-of-3 from the line to score his 19 points. He also pulled down six rebounds.
Bright scored eight points and assisted on five baskets. Thomas scored five points and had two steals and two assists. McDaniel added 10 points and six assists.
Sam Houston took advantage of a long scoring drought by UTSA as, down 18-7 with 11:44 to go until intermission, the Roadrunners went scoreless for nine minutes. SHSU was up 28-7 when Keith Spencer finally scored with 2:25 left in the half.
The Bearkats shot 49 percent from the field and held the Roadrunners (13-15, 7-8) to a dismal 32 percent shooting night. Sam Houston also won the rebounding battle 34-25 and controlled the paint, outscoring UTSA 34-8 underneath the basket.
“It feels good to get a win and build some momentum heading into the tournament,” McDaniel said. “We have had some struggles in the conference season, but I feel like down the stretch we have been playing better defensively and rebounding.
“It was real special to get a win on senior day.”
The Bearkats led from the opening tip thanks to a quick start from Gardiner. The 6-8 center scored eight of Sam Houston's first 11 points to build a six-point advantage six minutes into the contest.
After McDaniel hit a 3-pointer to push it to 14-5, Gardiner knocked in a pair of free throws and Bright made a nifty driving layup to put the Kats up by 13 midway through the first half. Sam Houston never led by less than 12 the rest of the way.
“We kept pushing the ball and running our offense, the things we do best,” Gardiner said. “We were patient and just ran our offense. They did a good job of getting the ball to me inside. I had some open looks and just had to finish the baskets.”
Down 30-13 at the break, the Roadrunners finally showed a little fight to start the second half when Isaiah Allen opened with a 3-pointer and Melvin Smith, who scored 14 points, connected on a pair of free throws to make it a 12-point game.
The Bearkats then retaliated with a 15-5 run over the next five minutes to bust the game wide open. Sophomore point guard Ashton Mitchell scored four of his seven points off a couple of steals during the spurt.
“They scored the first five points of the half because we missed an assignment and put them on the line,” SHSU head coach Bob Marlin said. “We picked up our intensity on defense and made a couple of stops. Ashton had a steal and a layup, then another to get a couple of easy baskets.
“That's when we are at our best, when we are scoring off our defense and pushing the ball down the court. We only had two turnovers in the second half.”
Sam Houston also got solid performances by junior Reggie Rawlins (seven points), junior Domas Kvedys (five points) and freshman Josten Crow (four points) in the victory.
But Wednesday night belonged to the seniors, who have won 83 games in their career, including three straight 20-plus win seasons. In the final three minutes of the game, Marlin pulled Thomas, Gardiner, McDaniel and Bright out one by one so each could receive a well-deserved standing ovation from the appreciative crowd.
“Those four guys have won more games than any four-year group in school history,” Marlin added. “John has been part of three of that, and Jeremy, Ryan and Shamir have been here four years. They are all great students and they have meant a lot to me personally and a lot to our program.
“I have been blessed to coach a group like this.”
The Bearkats have one final regular-season game at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at the American Bank Center.
SAM HOUSTON ST 68, TEXAS-SAN ANTONIO 37
3/5/08 7 p.m. at Huntsville, TX (Johnson Coliseum)
TEXAS-SAN ANTONIO (13-15, SLC 7-8)
Smith, Melvin 5-11 4-6 14; Spencer, Keith 2-4 4-6 8; Allen, Isaiah 2-6 0-0
6; Shank, Joey 2-4 0-2 5; Gibson, Devin 1-4 0-4 3; Dade, Antoine 0-1 1-2 1;
Ludwick, JohnMark 0-5 0-1 0; Davis, E.B. 0-1 0-0 0; Dotson-Lara, Cody 0-0
0-0 0; Francis, Andrew 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 12-37 9-21 37.
SAM HOUSTON ST (22-6, SLC 10-5)
Gardiner, John 8-8 3-3 19; McDaniel, Shamir 3-6 2-2 10; Bright, Ryan 3-7 1-2
8; Mitchell, Ashton 3-8 1-2 7; Rawlins, Reggie 3-6 0-0 7; Kvedys, Domas 2-5
0-1 5; Thomas, Jeremy 2-8 0-0 5; Crow, Josten 1-2 2-2 4; Ramirez, DeLuis 1-3
1-2 3; Falkner, Barkley 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-53 10-14 68.
Texas-San Antonio............. 13 24 - 37
SAM HOUSTON ST................ 30 38 - 68
3-point goals--Texas-San Antonio 4-13 (Allen, Isaiah 2-5; Gibson, Devin 1-1;
Shank, Joey 1-3; Ludwick, JohnMark 0-4), SAM HOUSTON ST 6-18 (McDaniel,
Shamir 2-4; Bright, Ryan 1-1; Thomas, Jeremy 1-6; Kvedys, Domas 1-1;
Rawlins, Reggie 1-1; Ramirez, DeLuis 0-2; Mitchell, Ashton 0-3). Fouled
out--Texas-San Antonio-None, SAM HOUSTON ST-None. Rebounds--Texas-San
Antonio 25 (Spencer, Keith 10), SAM HOUSTON ST 34 (Bright, Ryan 8).
Assists--Texas-San Antonio 11 (Smith, Melvin 5), SAM HOUSTON ST 21
(McDaniel, Shamir 6). Total fouls--Texas-San Antonio 17, SAM HOUSTON ST 15.
Technical fouls--Texas-San Antonio-None, SAM HOUSTON ST-Team. A-1768
CAREER HIGH SCORING FOR JOHN GARDINER
