By Cody Stark, Huntsville Item

Sam Houston State sophomore Drae Murray was a monster on the boards and made some key passes Wednesday night. But it was the 5-foot-9 backup point guard's only points that ultimately saved the day.

Murray hit two free throws with 43 seconds left to make it a two possession game as the Bearkats escaped a pesky Nicholls squad for a 75-69 victory at Stopher Gym in Thibodaux, La.

Junior guard Lance Pevehouse added two more free throws with 14 seconds left and senior point guard Ashton Mitchell stripped the ball away from Colonels junior Anatoly Bose in the final seconds to seal it. Sam Houston State remained unbeaten in Southland Conference play at 9-0 and improved to 17-5 on the season.

With several players in foul trouble, the Kats needed some guys to step up. Mitchell led the way with 18 points. Murray had six assists, including one to Mitchell that put SHSU up three with 1:44 to go, and pulled down four rebounds.

Starters Gilberto Clavell (11 points) and Josten Crow (five points) fouled out, but Pevehouse and Preston Brown came off the bench to score 13 and nine points respectively. Senior Corey Allmond finished with 12 points.

"Ashton hurt his ankle early in the second half and had to get it re-taped, but he came back and really stepped it up," SHSU head coach Bob Marlin said. "Drae came off the bench and came up with some big defensive rebounds and he made some nice passes. Lance also played well. He went 4 of 5 from the field and led us with seven rebounds.

"Preston came off the bench and gave us a lift. They all played super."

Nicholls hit two quick 3-pointers to start the game, but the Bearkats answered with a 29-6 run which was capped by a trey from Crow and a pair of free throws by Allmond.

The Colonels closed the half with five unanswered points on a 3 by Bose (19 points) and a layup in the finals seconds by Kenny Franklin to make it a nine-point game heading into the half.

The Bearkats had the Colonels (3-7, 7-16) on the ropes to start the second half when Allmond buried a 3-pointer and Bootle knocked in a layup to make it 39-25. But the game got sloppy as the half wore on. Both teams were called for 28 fouls in the contest and combined to shoot 61 free throws.

Sam Houston also committed 20 turnovers.

"We started slow and they hit a couple of 3s to go up 6-0," Marlin added. "We kicked it up and had a chance to knock them out. But we had some calls go against us and had some turnovers. That let them get more offensive opportunities than us."

Nicholls guard Fred Hunter, who scored 26 points, tied the game several times down the stretch, the final coming on a layup with under three minutes to go that made it 66-66.

The game was ultimately won at the free-throw line. Sam Houston went 6 for 6 at the stripe in the final minute and a half and finished the game 25 of 31, or 81 percent.

The Colonels, on the other hand, hit 20 of their 30 free-throw attempts.

"In the second half we shot 63 percent from the floor, 38 percent from 3 and 88 percent at the line, but we had eight turnovers and that took the ball out of our hands," Marlin said. "But we never gave up the lead and we made plays down the stretch. They have a good team and they really do a good job with their halfcourt offense. We were able to hang on and we'll take it."

The Bearkats return home to face Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Johnson Coliseum.