El Paso, Tex. - Led by Derek Brooks who scored 17 points, Air Force rallied from an 18-point deficit to defeat Sam Houston 76-65 in the first round of the Bank of the West Don Haskins Sun Bowl Classic Tuesday night.
Sam Houston's Gilberto Clavell led both teams with 24 points and Josten Crow added 14 for the Bearkats. SHSU drops to 6-5 for the season with the loss while Air Force stands 8-3.
The Kats will face Western New Mexico at 5:30 p.m. (Mountain Time) Wednesday in the second round of the Classic. Host UTEP will take on Air Force. The Miners defeated Western New Mexico 87-58 in the tournament's first game Tuesday.
Sam Houston jumped out to a 27-9 lead and was up 36-28 at intermission. But the Falcons started the second half with a 12-4 run to tie the contest 40-40 on a pair of Taylor Stewart free throws at the 14:59 mark.
After a pair of lead changes, Air Force took control going up 48-46 on free throws by Tom Fow with 10:56 left and never trailed again. Fow ended the night as the Falcons' second-leading scorer with 15 points.
Sam Houston became only the second team to shoot better than 40 percent from the field against the Falcons this year. SHSU went 21-of-51 from the floor for 41.2 percent. Air Force was 25-of-45 from the field for a 55.6 shooting mean.
The Falcons were deadly at the charity line, missing only three of their 23 attempts for an 87 percent free throw shooting mean.
Sam Houston led on the boards with 29 rebounds to Air Force's 26. Crow led the Bearkats with six rebounds.
Lance Pevehouse scored nine points for Sam Houston while Drae Murray added six.
Following the Western New Mexico game, Sam Houston will face off with the Miners Sunday, Jan. 2 in El Paso.
Sam Houston opens the defense of its Southland Conference championship on Sautrday, Jan. 8, with a road game encounter at UTSA. The Bearkats' first Southland home game will be a 7 p.m. tilt with UT-Arlington on Wednesday, Jan. 12 at 7 p.m.
Tickets for Sam Houston men's basketball are on sale now online at www.gobearkats.com/tickets.
Fans also may purchase tickets 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.
