SAN MARCOS ? Drae Murray and Ashton Mitchell each made two free throws in the final 16 seconds to preserve a Sam Houston State men's basketball victory over Texas State-San Marcos as the Bearkats won 79-75.
Five Bearkats scored in double figures led by Corey Allmond with 17 points. Barkley Falkner tied his career high with 16 points. Preston Brown and Mitchell each had 11 points and Lance Pevehouse added 10.
With the victory, Sam Houston head coach Bob Marlin becomes the “winningest” men's basketball coach in Bearkat history. The win ups his record in 11 seasons at SHSU to 190 victories and only 118 losses. He passes Archie Porter who won 189 and lost 128 in 1965 to 1975.
Sam Houston led 37-32 at half and were up by as many as seven points in the second half. But the Bobcats came back to make in a game, pulling to within one in the final minute. Murray hit two free throws with 16 seconds left and Mitchell added to more with four to play.
Sam Houston State now stands 2-1 in Southland Conference action and 8-8 for the season.
“The guys played hard and it was a big win,” SHSU head coach Bob Marlin said. “Barkley had a great game. He was 4-for-5 from the field and 1-for-1 from 3. Corey shot the ball well. Drae came in and gave us a boost. Everybody who played tonight did a good job. It was a team effort.”
Facing the top 3-point shooting team in the league in the Bobcats, Sam Houston State was the one with the hot hand Wednesday. The Bearkats led by as many as 10 in the contest thanks to a 9-of-17, or 53 percent, shooting night from behind the arc. Allmond was 5-for-8 from 3-point range.
Texas State struggled from long range. The Bobcats only connected on 6-of-21, or 29 percent, of their 3-point attempts.
Sam Houston led 37-32 at the half and were up by as many as seven points in the second period. But the Bobcats came back to make it a game, pulling to within one in the final minute.
Murray hit two free throws with 16 seconds left and Mitchell added two more with four to play to seal the victory.
“In the second half, every time it got down to a one-possession game, we answered,” Marlin said. “They took the lead then we got a dunk by Barkley, Ashton scored a layup, Barkley hit a 3, Drae hit free throws. We answered the bell six times in a row and made the plays down the stretch.”
Sam Houston State did a good job of taking care of the ball. The Kats only had 12 turnovers, marking the third straight game with 13 or less.
Another key to the win was free-throw shooting. The Bearkats went 24-of-32 from the stripe.
“We wanted to win the 3-point game and we did,” Marlin added. ?We also wanted to win the free-throw game. We also did a good job again taking care of the ball. We had 12 turnovers and four of those were charge calls.”
The Bearkats return to action Saturday when they host Texas-Arlington at 7 p.m.
