HUNTSVILLE ? Guards Drae Murray and Ashton Mitchell each scored 14 points to lead Sam Houston State to a 78-74 Southland Conference men's basketball victory over Texas-Arlington at Johnson Coliseum Saturday night.

Murray hit 4-of-8 from three point range to pace the Bearkats as Sam Houston nailed 13 three-pointers as a team. Corey Allmond scored 12 points and Barkley Falkner added 10. Falkner also pulled down a career best 13 rebounds.

Marquez Haynes led all scorers with 26 points for UTA while Anthony Vereen added 20.

Sam Houston State (9-8, SLC 3-1) led 34-30 at halftime in a contest that was tied eight times and had nine lead changes.

Texas-Arlington (10-8, SLC 3-2) held its last lead with 8:47 to play, 57-56, on a pair of free throws by Tommy Moffit.

Sam Houston went on a 18-9 run to go up by eight points, 72-64, on a three point basket by Lance Pevehouse with 1:30 to play. The Kats hit six free throws in the final minute to hold on to the victory.

"It was like all the games we've played against Texas-Arlington," SHSU head coach Bob Marlin said. "It was hard fought, physical and was determined late. We played well defensively in the first half, but gave them 67 percent shooting in the second half. We were able to win because we out-rebounded them by 10 and won the three-point battle and shot well at the free throw line. Those were our goals."

SAM HOUSTON STATE 78, TEXAS-ARLINGTON 74

01-24-09 7 p.m. at Huntsville, TX (Johnson Coliseum)

TEXAS-ARLINGTON (10-8, SLC 3-2)

Haynes, Marquez 10-15 3-4 26; Vereen, Anthony 8-14 3-5 20; Guignard, Roge'r

5-9 1-2 14; Moffitt, Tommy 0-2 4-4 4; Smith, Jeremy 1-6 2-3 4; Parker, Trey

1-1 2-2 4; Reed III, LaMarcus 1-1 0-0 2; Long, Brandon 0-8 0-0 0; Davis,

J.D. 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-56 15-20 74.

SAM HOUSTON STATE (9-8, SLC 3-1)

Murray, Drae 5-9 0-0 14; Mitchell, Ashton 2-6 9-10 14; Allmond, Corey 4-11

2-2 12; Falkner, Barkley 2-8 5-8 10; Crow, Josten 2-5 5-8 9; Brown, Preston

2-5 0-0 6; Pevehouse, Lance 2-8 0-0 6; Ramirez, DeLuis 1-3 1-2 4; Bootle,

Antuan 1-1 0-0 2; Kvedys, Domas 0-0 1-2 1; Thompson, Kendrell 0-0 0-0 0.

Totals 21-56 23-32 78.

Texas-Arlington...............   30   44  -   74

Sam Houston State.............   34   44  -   78

3-point goals--Texas-Arlington 7-16 (Haynes, Marquez 3-5; Guignard, Roge'r

3-7; Vereen, Anthony 1-1; Long, Brandon 0-2; Smith, Jeremy 0-1), Sam Houston

State 13-32 (Murray, Drae 4-8; Allmond, Corey 2-7; Brown, Preston 2-3;

Pevehouse, Lance 2-6; Mitchell, Ashton 1-3; Ramirez, DeLuis 1-1; Falkner,

Barkley 1-3; Crow, Josten 0-1). Fouled out--Texas-Arlington-None, Sam

Houston State-None. Rebounds--Texas-Arlington 33 (Vereen, Anthony 7;

Moffitt, Tommy 7), Sam Houston State 43 (Falkner, Barkley 13).

Assists--Texas-Arlington 19 (Smith, Jeremy 8), Sam Houston State 18

(Mitchell, Ashton 5). Total fouls--Texas-Arlington 22, Sam Houston State 18.

Technical fouls--Texas-Arlington-None, Sam Houston State-None. A-1174