Games of the Decade, Nos. 6-10
12/23/2009 9:00:00 AM | Athletics
No. 10 - Men's Basketball vs. Nicholls, 2000 Southland Conference Tournament first round - The Bearkats were hosting a Southland Conference Tournament game for the first time. With no time left on the clock, Boney Watson hit a 3-pointer to win the game 49-48.
On a day of upsets in the Southland Conference, the Bearkats were the only home team to win a first round playoff game. Northwestern State upset the Kats in the semifinals of the tournament just a few days later.
No. 9 - Softball 2007 SLC championship - With a trip to the NCAA Tournament on the line, the Brandi Crnkovic pitched a gem for the Bearkats, blanking Texas State 1-0 to win the Southland Conference Tournament.
The Bearkats bounced back from an 8-0 defeat at the hands of the Bobcats earlier in the tournament. Crnkovic nearly single-handedly carried the Kats to the title. She pitched 24 innings of shutout ball and was named tournament MVP.
No. 8 - Baseball SHSU vs. Texas A&M Corpus-Christi, 2008 SLC semifinals - After rallying to tie the game in the 7th and 8th innings, Keith Stein hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth to put the Bearkats in the SLC Championship game with a 7-5 over the Islanders.
With the Kats trailing 2-1 in the seventh, Seth Hammock hit a solo shot to ties the game up. The Islander answered right back with three runs in the 8th to take back control of the game. In the bottom half of the frame, the Kats got all three runs back to set up Stein's dramatics in the bottom of the ninth.
The next day the Kats knocked off Lamar to claim their second of three straight Southland tournament titles.
No. 7 - Men's Basketball vs. Missouri, 2005 NIT Season Tip-off - Ryan Bright picked the perfect time to have 
a career night.
The Sam Houston State sophomore made a pair of crucial 3-pointers late in the second half and finished with 28 points Monday night as Bearkats beat Missouri 80-77 in the opening round of the Preseason NIT.
Bright's biggest basket was a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left that put the Bearkats up 76-71. He also hit a 3-pointer with 1:52 left that gave the Bearkats the lead for good.
Bright was 4-for-5 from behind the arc in the second half and 6-for-7 on the game. He also had seven rebounds and four assists.
"I've never shot like that in my life before," Bright said. "Like Kelvin (Williams) said in the locker room, 'I thought the ball had angel wings on it."'
No. 6 - Football vs. No. 15 Northern Arizona, I-AA Opening Round Playoff game, Dec. 1, 2001 - In the first playoff game in Bowers Stadium history, the Bearkats and Lumberjacks played to a thrilling finish. SHSU and Northern Arizona dueled it out early and often.
The game looked to be heading to overtime when Northern Arizona tied the game at 31 with less than a minute to play. But Josh McCown and the Kats had other ideas.
McCown hit Matt Buss for a 58-yard pass to the 10-yard line setting up an Alex St. Peter field goal with no time remaining to beat the Lumberjacks 34-31.
The win earned the Kats their first-ever postseason victory and a trip to the quarterfinals with Montana.
