Men's basketballs hosts unbeaten Rangers Monday
11/14/2010 6:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
When Jason Hooten took over as Sam Houston head men's basketball coach, one of his top goals was to make the Bearkats the best defensive team in the league.
Everything wasn't perfect about the Kats' 72-47 victory over Mary Hardin-Baylor in the season opener Saturday night, but Sam Houston certainly played well on the defensive end of the court.
"We've worked on defense more than anything else in preseason and it showed," Hooten said. "We held a well-coached team to 22 percent from the field and only 47 points. Obviously, we're not a finished product, but good defense gives you a solid foundation."
Hooten's Bearkats will be back in action Monday night when they play host to Northwestern Oklahoma State at 7 p.m. at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum.
The Rangers bring a 4-0 record and high-scoring offense to Johnson. Northwestern Oklahoma State is averaging 81.5 points per game. Orren Tims, a 6-5 senior from Ruston, La., leads the Rangers with 19.0 points a game. Jonathan Freemyer, a 6-5 sophomore from Kingwood, is adding 14.5 points per contest.
Sam Houston relied on its three returning seniors to pull the Bearkats through Saturday against the Crusaders.
Josten Crow tied his career best as a Bearkat with 21 points. The 6-4 forward, who is a preseason All-Southland Conference second team selection, led SHSU with 13 rebounds and five steals.
Gilberto Clavell, 6-7 forward and a first team preseason All-SLC choice, totaled 15 points and seven rebounds. Lance Pevehouse, 6-3 guard, scored seven.
Sophomore Aaron Thompson, a 6-8 post player who played in 17 games on last year's Southland Conference championship team scored eight points and junior point guard Drae Murray added five.
Newcomers Marcus Williams and Nafis Richardson added six and five points, respectively.
Monday's game will be the final home appearance for the Sam Houston men this month. The Bearkats play the University of Texas in Austin Tuesday, Nov. 23, and travel to Colorado State on Saturday, Nov. 27.
The Bearkat men begin a four-game home stand with Saint Thomas on Wednesday, Dec. 1. Also included in the home stand are contests with the University of Houston Saturday, Dec. 4; North Texas Wednesday, Dec. 8 and Cleveland State Saturday, Dec. 11.
The new "Elite 8" ticket package offers Sam Houston fans the opportunity to see the defending Southland Conference men's basketball champions play eight big home games at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum this season.
The plan gives fans the opportunity to purchase a ticket to seven Saturday night games against NCAA Division I opponents (matchups with Houston, Cleveland State, Nicholls, UTSA, Southeastern Louisiana, A&M-Corpus Christi and Texas State) plus the Stephen F. Austin rivalry game on Wednesday, January 26 - all eight games for the remarkable price of only $50. The "Elite 8" ticket package is on sale now online on www.gobearkats.com/tickets .
Sam Houston follows up its season opener with a non-conference encounter with Northwestern Oklahoma State on Monday November 15 at 7 p.m.
Fans may purchase tickets now online at www.gobearkats.com/tickets or at the Sam Houston 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 is (936) 294-1764.
