KATY ? The Sam Houston State men's basketball team's season came to an end Thursday afternoon in an 83-74 loss to Texas-San Antonio in the opening round of the Southland Conference Tournament.

The Bearkats trailed by four at the half and could never put together a comeback. UTSA never trailed in the second half. Five times the Kats were able to cut the lead to four points or less and every time, UTSA answered with a basket of their own. On four occasions, they answered with a 3-pointer.

“You have to give them credit, they hit the shots when they needed to,” SHSU head coach Bob Marlin said. “We just can keep coming here and let a team shoot 50 percent and expect to win.”

The Roadrunners shot 57 percent for the game and a blistering 72 percent in the second half. UTSA knocked down 10 of their 18 shots from outside.

The Kats trailed by 12 with less than four minutes to play, but managed to cut the lead to five. However they were forced to start putting UTSA on the line where they hit 23-of-27 for the game.

Five Bearkats finished in double figures scoring with Preston Brown leading the way with 13. Lance Pevehouse, Barkley Falkner and Ashton Mitchell each scored 12 and Corey Allmond finished with 11.

The Bearkats dominated the glass, out rebounding the Roadrunners 34-26 including a 16-3 advantage on the offensive glass.