Men's basketball travels to Hammond Saturday
1/14/2010 9:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Two teams that opened Southland Conference play with victories meet Saturday when Sam Houston State travels to Hammond, LA, to take on Southeastern Louisiana Saturday at 3 p.m.
The Lions defeated Lamar 78-56 in Hammond while Sam Houston opened with a 66-57 victory over defending Southland champion Stephen F. Austin in Huntsville Saturday.
Southeastern Louisiana stands 10-5 for the season and are 2-0 in league play after winning at Northwestern State on Wednesday.
The Lions are 8-0 at home at the University Center this year.
Preseason All-Southland 6-9 Patrick Sullivan leads Southeastern with 15.0 points and 8.8 rebounds. His 14 points in the Lamar victory put him over the 1,000 point mark in his Lion career. Damon Forest, a 6-3 forward, is adding 11.2 points per game.
Sam Houston and Southeastern Louisiana are meeting in men's basketball for the 33rd time. The Bearkats lead the all-time series 18 victories to 14. Sam Houston has won four of the last five meetings including a 63-62 victory last season that started a seven-game winning streak as the Kats won the Southland West Division championship in 2009.
Sam Houston is led by the highest scoring backcourt duo in the program's 22 years at the NCAA Division I level. Corey Allmond and Ashton Mitchell combined for 27.8 points per game last year and are pairing for 26.5 points this season.
Allmond, a 6-1 senior from Oxon Hill, MD, is averaging 15.6 points while Mitchell, a 5-11 three-year letterman from New Orleans, is averaging 10.9 points and leads the Southland with 4.9 assists.
Gilberto Clavell, a 6-7 junior college transfer from Collin County, has stepped in as a starter this season. The Mayaquez, Puerto Rico product has made an immediate impact, averaging 16.0 points and leading the Kats in rebounding with a 6.3 average. He has scored in double figures10 times including 34 points in the win at Auburn.
Each of the trio of players averaging in double figures for Sam Houston has earned Southland Conference "Player of the Week" honors this year. The latest is Clavell who received the honor after leading the Bearkats to a 66-57 victory over SFA last Saturday.
Preston Brown, 6-6 forward from Stringtown, OK, is the team's fourth leading scorer this season with a 9.0 average.
Josten Crow, a 6-4 junior from Houston, has stepped into a starting role this season after coming off the bench his first two years. Crow ranks second in the team in rebounds (6.0) and is adding 7.5 points per contest. He is one of the squad's top defenders and ranks nationally in assist/turnover ratio.
Sam Houston's 10 victories this year include wins over Auburn, Oral Roberts, Rider and Florida International. The victory over Auburn was the Kats' first ever over a Southeastern Conference opponent. The wins over ORU and Rider earned Sam Houston the Mayan Division championship at the Cancun Challenge in Mexico during Thanksgiving week.
Sam Houston State received the most votes and most first place votes in the annual Southland Conference preseason head coaches' poll. The Bearkats were tabbed to repeat as Southland West Division champions with 61 points and seven first place votes. Defending 2009 regular season and tournament champion Stephen F. Austin was selected as the East Division favorite with 58 points and five first place votes.The Bearkats have finished among the top three teams in the Southland standings six of the last seven seasons. Sam Houston won the Southland Conference regular season in both 2000 and 2003. In 2003, the Kats won the Southland tournament to advance to the NCAA tournament against Florida.
Sam Houston State will return home to meet Texas State on Wednesday, Jan. 20, in a 7 p.m. contest at Johnson Coliseum.
Tickets for men's basketball games are on sale now on-line at www.gobearkats.com.
Fans also may purchase Sam Houston State men's basketball tickets at the Bearkat athletic ticket office located in the Ron Mafrige Field House at Bowers Stadium.
Ticket office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The ticket office telephone number is (936) 294-1729.
