By Cody Stark, Huntsville Item
HUNTSVILLE - Gilberto Clavell scored 20 points and Preston Brown added 15 as Sam Houston State outscored the Golden Panthers 51-26 in the second half to spark the Bearkats to a 93-63 non-conference men's basketball victory over FIU Tuesday night.
Also scoring in double figures for Sam Houston (8-3) were Corey Almond with 14 and Josten Crow and Antuan Bootle both with 11. FIU (4-11) was led by Marvin Roberts with 14 points and Martavis Kee with 12.
Sam Houston State shot a blistering 64 percent from the field and went a staggering 16 of 29 from behind the arc to dismantle the Golden Panthers.
Florida International (4-11) kept it close and trimmed a five-point deficit at the half down to two three times in the early minutes of the second period, the final time coming on a layup by junior forward Marvin Roberts that made it 50-48 with 17:21 to go.
But the Bearkats (8-3) turned on the defense and started knocking down shots from the outside. Senior forward Preston Brown, senior guard Corey Allmond and junior guard Josten Crow all hit 3s as Sam Houston opened up a 64-50 advantage two minutes later.
That was the beginning of the end for the Golden Panthers, who are coached by former NBA All-Star Isiah Thomas.
"The key to the game was the second half," SHSU head coach Bob Marlin said. "They scored five baskets in the first two and a half minutes, then they go 5 for 27. They didn't score for five minutes. We changed the defense at the half, which was good for us, and it got them on their heels."
The Bearkats held FIU, which led 35-31 with 3:33 to play in the first half, to 31 percent shooting after the break. The Golden Panthers were also only 1 of 15 from 3-point range in the second half.
Sam Houston State, on the other hand, couldn't miss. The Bearkats shot 76 percent (19 of 25) from the floor and 69 percent (9 of 13) from long range in the second period.
Junior forward Gilberto Clavell led SHSU with a game-high 20 points. Brown added 15 points and Allmond scored 14 on 4-of-8 shooting from 3. Crow came close to a triple double with 11 points, nine boards and eight assists. Sophomore forward Antuan Bootle also added 11 points.
"I thought the first half was a well-played game," Thomas said. "They came out the second half and really shot the ball well from the 3-point line. We just couldn't do anything with them from behind the arc.
"Once they stretched the lead, they fell back in a zone (defense) and we had to play catchup. You have to give them credit. They are a really hot team right now that just went down to Auburn and beat Auburn. Coach (Marlin) has them playing really good basketball."
The Bearkats led 21-11 midway through the first half, but FIU started to get hot, while Sam Houston all of a sudden went cold.
The Golden Panthers went on a 15-3 run, which was sparked when senior J.C. Otero knocked down back-to-back treys, to take their first lead at 26-24.
After falling behind 35-31, SHSU retook the lead thanks to a pair of 3s by Crow and sophomore point guard Drae Murray. Brown and Allmond closed the half with baskets to send the Kats into the break up 42-37.
"Practice just carried over," said Crow, who went 3 of 4 from long range. "It all starts on the inside and once we established that, we started getting open looks. When you get open looks we got some guys that can knock down those shots like Lance (Pevehouse), Corey, Drae and Ashton. We are just getting it done right now."
The Bearkats did control the paint in the second half and got some point-blank baskets from Clavell, Brown and Bootle. Sam Houston was also in command of the glass, outrebounding FIU 36-21.
"I kind of felt like we were unstoppable out there," Bootle said. "We really had it going. The guards were showing us love on the wing and we were able to score inside. We couldn't have asked for a better night."
