Championship banner ceremony highlights UNT game Wednesday
12/7/2010 6:52:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The third Southland Conference men's basketball championship banner to be raised by Sam Houston State at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum will be unveiled Wednesday in a special pregame ceremony.
The Bearkats are hosting the University of North Texas in a 7 p.m. non-conference contest. Just prior to tip off, coaches, fans and players alike will celebrate Sam Houston's 25-8 season last year in which the Kats won both the Southland regular season and tournament titles and rolled into the NCAA tournament in New Orleans.
Seven members of the current 2010-11 squad were members of last year's championship team. Seniors Gilberto Clavell, Josten Crow and Lance Pevehouse, juniors Drae Murray and Antuan Bootle, sophomore Aaron Thompason and redshirt freshman Kelly Lawson all made the trip to New Orleans.
In their second NCAA appearance, Sam Houston threw a scare into eventual Elite Eight participant Baylor in New Orleans before falling 68-59. The Bearkats led 31-30 at half and the game was tied 55-55 with 3:48 after a contest with 15 lead changes.
Sam Houston (4-2) will be aiming to bounce back from a 75-71 overtime loss to the University of Houston last Saturday.www.gobearkats.com/tickets .
North Texas (7-1) brings a five-game winning streak into Johnson Coliseum that includes victories over Southland Conference teams Texas State and UT-Arlington and Conference USA member Rice.
Tristan Thompson, a 6-5 guard from Angelton, leads the Sun Belt Conference and ranks No. 17 in NCAA Division I men's basketball this year with a 21.6 scoring average.
Wednesday's contest marks the 58th basketball meeting between the Bearkats and the Mean Green. North Texas leads the all-time series 34 victories to 23. The Mean Green won the last two meetings, defeating SHSU 76-71 in Huntsville and 68-66 in Denton in the non-conference portion of the 2008-09 season. Sam Houston's last victory over UNT was a 59-47 win in 1996-97.
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.
