Men's Basketball 3/8/2009 1:00:00 AM GoBearkats.com

Bearkats top Texas State-San Marcos 92-82

HUNTSVILLE -- Barkley Falkner scored 21 points and pulled down 13 rebounds to lead Sam Houston State to a 92-82 Southland Conference men's basketball victory over Texas State-San Marcos Saturday afternoon at Johnson Coliseum.

The victory marked the 200th coaching win for Sam Houston State head coach Bob Marlin. The coach of the Bearkats for the past 11 years becomes only the second coach in Southland history to win 200 games. Mike Vining of Louisiana-Monroe is the all-time leader with 383 wins in 1983 to 2005.

Josten Crow, Lance Pevehouse and Corey Allmond each scored 17 points as Sam Houston State upped its record to 18-11 for the season and 12-4 in Southland action. If Stephen F. Austin loses Saturday night at UTSA, the Bearkats and the Lumberjacks will tie for the Southland championship.

In the game, Allmond set the new school record for 3-pointers in a season with 96, passing Derrick Williams (92).

With a shot at possibly winning a share of the Southland Conference crown, Sam Houston State needed first place Stephen F. Austin had to lose at UTSA for the Kats to tie for the championship. That didn't happen as the Lumberjacks (13-3, 21-7) held off the Roadrunners 66-62 Saturday night.

Still, the Bearkats wrapped up the West Division title and will be the third seed in the Southland Conference Tournament next weekend at the Merrell Center in Katy. Sam Houston State plays sixth-seeded UTSA on Thursday afternoon at 2:30 in the opening round.

“After losing the (conference opener at SFA) by two points on the road to a team with four returning starters, this team turned around and was able to win 12 of the next 15 ballgames in a time our league has been as strong as it has ever been,” SHSU head coach Bob Marlin said. “That is impressive. We won our division and had a chance to tie for a championship.”

Marlin also became only the second coach in league history to win 200 games while coaching in the Southland Conference.

“We have had a lot of great players and a lot of support from the administration to the athletic department and the faculty has been awesome,” Marlin said. “They have done a great job of recruiting for us. It makes our job a lot easier. Our guys have done a great job in the classroom, a good job on the court and I'm proud of them.

“The most thing I'm proud of about this win is that it kept us in contention to win a championship and gave us momentum going into the tournament next week.”

It took eight minutes, but the Bearkats finally began to pull away from the Bobcats in the first half. Junior Ashton Mitchell, who scored nine points, ignited an 11-0 run when Crow found him streaking to the basket for an easy layup.

After coming up with a stop, Mitchell drove inside then dished one of his game-high 11 assists to Pevehouse in the right corner for a wide-open 3. Crow scored on a putback and Preston Brown and Falkner each hit a pair of free throws to put the Kats up 31-19.

Texas State senior Brandon Bush, who scored a game-high 24 points, scored two quick baskets and senior Corey Jefferson knocked down a trey to get the Bobcats to within 31-26 with just under seven minutes to go.

But in the blink of an eye, Sam Houston got hot from behind the arc. Allmond hit two 3s and Pevehouse added another to give the Bearkats their biggest lead of the game at 47-28 with two and a half minutes left in the half.

“Going into the tournament we had to come out strong,” said Crow, who scored 13 points in the first half. “We have been inconsistent during conference, so now is the time to put everything aside and get the job done. Coming out against Texas State, a team we might face may play next week, it was real important to make a statement.”

Saturday was truly one of those games when making free throws meant the difference. Despite making six fewer field goals, Sam Houston State went 36-of-45 (80 percent) from the line compared to 13-of-19 by the Bobcats.

The Bobcats cut Sam Houston's 16-point, first-half lead down to eight twice in the second period. The first time came with six minutes to go when freshman Roshun Jackson, who finished with 11 points, came up with a steal and raced down the court of a layup.

After Crow hit a shot to push the lead back to 84-73 at the 3:09 mark, Bush hit a free throw to finish off an old-fashioned three-point play to cut it back to eight.

But the Bearkats got the job done at the free-throw line. Mitchell and Pevehouse, who both went 6-for-6 from the line, combined to make six free throws down the stretch to seal it.

Falkner also had a huge second half at the stripe. He went 9-for-10 after going 6-for-9 in the first period.

“They are always one of the top foul teams in the nation, so we got in the bonus early in each half and kept attacking,” Falkner said. “We got down there and made them fortunately. Everybody normally stays after practice to shoot free throws and tonight it paid off.”

The Bearkats finished tied for second with Nicholls State in the overall standings, but the Colonels are the No. 2 seed at the SLC tournament because they beat SHSU head-to-head.

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