CORPUS CHRISTI -- In a battle of the last two unbeaten teams in Southland Conference play, it was the Sam Houston State Bearkats who emerged on top of the standings.
SHSU (14-5, 6-0 Southland) overcame a slow start to knock off the Islanders (11-9, 5-1) 70-58 at the American Bank Center. Corey Allmond led the way for the Bearkats with 16 points.
The Bearkats got off to a slow start, hitting just one of their first 11 shots as they watched the Islanders storm out to a 15-point lead at 19-4. After the two teams traded 3-pointers, the Kats got hot. SHSU scored the next 15 points to tie the game at 22.
"Our guys played really well at the end of the first half and all of the second half," SHSU head coach Bob Marlin said. "Early we weren't hitting at all and we were forcing some stuff offensively. We hit a couple of shots and it relaxed us a little bit."
Lance Pevehouse got the run started with a 3-pointer. Josten Crow capped the 15-0 run with a lay-up to tie the game. A 3-pointer by Allmond gave the Kats their first lead of the game 1:42 to play in the first half. The Bearkats took a 30-29 lead into the locker room, closing the half outscoring the Islanders 26-7 over the final 10:34.
They picked up right where they left off in the first half. The Kats never gave up the lead, eventually building it to 10 with 6:50 left to play in the game.
"The thing that scared me, was we had eight team fouls and they had just one at one point in the second half," Marlin said. "I was afraid we might not be getting to the line much, but they were able to make some plays when we needed to."
In addition to Allmond's 16, the Kats had three other players in double figures. Ashton Mitchell scored 15, Gilberto Clavell 13 and Pevehouse 11. Mitchell dished out five assists and Crow had a team-high eight rebounds.
The Bearkats will return home on Wednesday to take on UTSA and then will play host to Central Arkansas.
"We are looking forward to going back home for a couple before heading out to a tough trip to Thibodaux," Marlin said. "The guys are enjoying this, but they know it is still early. We are going to see these guys again in two weeks and probably again in the tournament."
Early in the game, the Islanders hit nine of their first 17 shots, but the Bearkats battled back
"One of our goals for the new year was to handle adversity," Mitchell said. "Playing on their home court, we knew they were going to make a run. The only run they made came at the start of the game. We handled it pretty well and locked down on defense. Our defense created offense."
The second half belonged to the Bearkats. SHSU shot 47 percent from the field and only had four turnovers in the second half. The Bearkats also came close to their field goal percentage defense goal of 40 percent. A&M-Corpus Christi shot 43 percent for the game.
"We got out to that lead and our defense got up," Pevehouse said. "Once that happened we just started pulling away. Our offense came together and everybody stepped it up and made shots."
Tickets for Bearkats's home games this week against UTSA on Wednesday and Central Arkansas on Saturday are on-sale now on-line. Tipoff for both games is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Johnson Coliseum.
For more information about tickets, especially Sam Houston's 3 Saturday games for $15 package, go to www.gobearkats.com or contact 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.
