Men's basketball on SLC TV Saturday vs. SFA
1/5/2009 1:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin battle Saturday at 2 p.m. in Nacogdoches in a game to be featured on the SLC TV network. The contest will open the 2009 Southland Conference schedule for both squads.
The Bearkats and the Lumberjacks are meeting in the basketball "Battle of the Piney Woods" for the 186th time Saturday. Stephen F. Austin holds a 97-88 advantage over the Bearkats. Sam Houston is 25-51 in Nacogdoches.
Stephen F. Austin won it the pair's last meeting 79-57 on TV last year in Nacogdoches, ending a four-game Bearkat winning streak in the series. Bob Marlin is 16-6 against the Jacks as head coach at Sam Houston. Sam Houston is opening its 22nd season in the Southland Conference. The Bearkats stand 12-9 in Southland openers. Since Bob Marlin became head coach at SHSU, the Kats are 6-4. Sam Houston lost its SLC opener last year, falling to Southeastern Louisiana 61-58 in Huntsville.
Sam Houston is one of only 37 teams in NCAA Division I men's basketball that has posted 20 victories or more in each of the last three seasons.
From 2004-05 to 2007-08, Sam Houston produced an 84-39 record, finished among the top three in the Southland Conference each season and appeared in the Southland Conference tournament semifinals three times.
When the Bearkats went 23-8 last year after going 22-9 in 2006 and 21-10 in 2007, they became only the third team in Southland Conference to post three or more 20-plus victory seasons in consecutive years.
During the 21st century (2000-2008), the Texas Longhorns are the only NCAA Division I men's basketball team in the state to win more than Marlin's Bearkats. From 1999-2000 to 2008-09, Texas has won 239 games, followed by Sam Houston with 178 wins and Texas Tech 173.
During Bob Marlin's 11 seasons at Sam Houston, the Bearkats rank as the "winningest" team in the league. SHSU stands 188-117 overall and are 112-64 in Southland Conference and 67-45 in non-conference action under Marlin.
The 2009 Bearkats feature a combination of experience and new talent. Transfer Corey Allmond from Howard College leads Sam Houston with 13.7 points per game. He stands No. 4 in three-point shooting in the Southland with a .485 percentage (39-of-85) from beyond the arc. Allmond ranks No. 14 in scoring in the league.
Junior point guard Ashton Mitchell leads the Southland in assists (7.3 per game) and is adding 12.3 points per contest. Mitchell ranks No. 3 nationally in assists behind Brock Young, East Carolina (8.3) and Ben Woodside, North Dakota State (7.4). Mitchell also stands No. 9 in the Southland in steals (1.8) and No. 9 in free throw percentage (.761).
Senior forward DeLuis Ramirez is averaging 10.1 points and 7.0 boards. Mitchell and Ramirez are the lone returning starters from last year's team.
Senior Barkley Falkner and transfer Preston Brown from Cowley County Community College round out the starting line-up. Falkner is averaging 6.2 rebounds.
Lance Pevehouse, a transfer from San Jacinto Junior College, is averaging 9.1 points off the bench. Pevehouse scored 23 points in the UTEP loss including an 80-foot three-point basket at the halftime buzzer.
Senior Domas Kvedys and freshman Antuan Bootle provide depth at post. Redshirt Arthur Zulu and transfer Kendrell Thompson also see action as reserves. Freshman Drae Murray, a Huntsville product, is Mitchell's backup at point guard. Sophomore Josten Crow has come back from an early season injury to become a defensive standout off the bench.
The Bearkats completed their 2008-09 non-conference schedule with a 6-7 mark. Sam Houston posted NCAA Division I victories over Louisiana-Lafayette (Sun Belt) 56-54 and Wright State (Horizon League) 84-65.
SHSU lost to Texas A&M 60-50, UTEP 89-54 and North Texas twice 76-71 and 68-66 in games against NCAA Division I foes from Texas.
Corey Allmond scored 20 points to lead Sam Houston State as the Bearkats fell to Central Florida 86-70 in SHSU's final non-conference game at Orlando, FL, Saturday.
Sam Houston took an early lead, going up 12-4 on a DeLuis Ramirez layup at the 11:42 mark in the first half. But UCF took advantage of SHSU turnovers to bounce back with a 18-0 run, going up 22-12 four minutes later.
Sam Houston never got closer than eight points the rest of the game. The Kats trailed 33-21 at intermission and were out-scored 53-49 in the second half.
Five of the past 9 seasons (including 2008), Sam Houston has led the Southland in field goal pct. defense. The Bearkats held foes to .387 last season. This year, SHSU ranks No. 4 in the league (.419).
In Sam Houston's six victories in 2008-09, the Kats have limited foes to .375 shooting from the field and .230 from three point range. In their seven losses, opponents have hit .455 from the field and .389 from beyond the arc.
Corey Allmond scored 24 points vs. Schreiner and 23 points at Texas Tech to become only the fourth player in Sam Houston history to score 20-or-more points in his first two games as a Bearkat.
Barkley Falkner posted career highs of 16 points and 9 rebounds in SHSU's win over Northwestern Oklahoma St. last week. Falkner is averaging 6.0 points and 6.3 rebounds as starting center for the Kats after averaging 2.7 points and 2.1 rebounds last year.
Ashton Mitchell is the fourth point guard for Bob Marlin to rank among the NCAA top 25 in assists. Others were Boney Watson (1999, 2000), Robert Shannon (2002, 2003) and Jejuan Plair (2006, 2007).
