HAMMOND, LA - Preston Brown made one of the biggest plays of his career at the most opportune time for the Bearkats on Saturday afternoon.
The senior forward grabbed a rebound off a missed free throw with 54 seconds left and slammed it home to give Sam Houston State a two-point lead over Southeastern Louisiana.
The Bearkats held off a flury of 3-points down the stretch and seniors Ashton Mitchell and Corey Allmond each knocked down a pair of free throws as Sam Houston escaped with an 84-79 victory, marking the first time an opposing team has beaten the Lions at the University Center this season.
"This was Preston's best rebounding game of the season. He just went up and grabbed some today," Bearkats head coach Bob Marlin said. "He grabbed that one at the end and just punched. That sealed the game for us. Our bench exploded and we made the plays down the stretch to win it."
With the win, the Bearkats improved to 2-0 in Southland Conference action and 10-5 overall, while Southeastern Louisiana dropped to 2-1 in league play and 10-6 on the season.
Sam Houston jumped out to a 10-0 advantage to open the game, but the Lions stormed back to tie the game at 12. Southeastern was hot from behind the arc and hit 7-of-13 attempts to take a five-point lead with 4:12 to go in the period.
The Kats managed to retake the lead at 38-35 going into the half thanks to a steal and a layup by Mitchell, who scored 24 points, and a free throw by Allmond (17 points).
"They didn't score their first field goal until the 15:26 mark of the first quarter," Marlin said. "But they are a great shooting team and they got hot. We made some stops at the end of the half to retake the lead."
Both teams were just getting warmed up. The second half turned into a track meet.
The game was tied 12 times and the lead changed hands 12 times in the second half. Sam Houston's biggest lead was a four-point advantage at 69-65 when Mitchell hit a 3 with just under six minutes left.
"Ashton had a great game," Marlin said. "He scored 24 points. He had three assists, four steals and had only one turnover."
After Sam Houston State junior forward Gilberto Clavell, who chipped in 18 points and seven boards, hit a pair of free throws, the Lions went up 76-73 with a trey and two free throws from Trent Hutchin at the 2:46 mark.
Southeastern's final lead came on a layup by Gary Dixon, who matched Mitchell with 24 points, at 78-77. That was the only basket by Dixon that didn't come from behind the arc. He knocked down five of his 11 attempts from long range.
Clavell was fouled on the Bearkats' next trip down the court. He hit the first free throw to tie the game, but missed the second.
It didn't matter because Brown was there for the rebound and the game-winning dunk.
Southeastern Louisiana shot a blistering 50 percent from the field in the second half (48 percent for the game), but Sam Houston played solid defense down the stretch. The Lions hit only one of their five shot attempts in the final three and a half minutes.
"The key to the game was turnovers," Marlin added. "We had seven and they had 18. That is 11 extra possessions for us. Only three of our turnovers came in the second half. Our (field goal percentage defense) wasn't great, but we are forcing turnovers.
"We were fortunate to get the plays. We made free throws (29 of 36) and we got some stops."
The Bearkats return home to host Texas State on Wednesday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Johnson Coliseum.
Tickets are on sale now on-line at www.gobearkats.com or at the Sam Houston athletic ticket office at 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 is (936) 294-1729.
