Second place Islanders visit for Saturday showdown
2/12/2010 9:32:00 AM | Men's Basketball
SAM HOUSTON VS. A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI
Saturday, February 13, 2010 - 7 p.m.
Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum - Huntsville, Texas
Radio: KSAM 101.7 FM - Streaming Video www.gobearkats.com
SAM HOUSTON STATE BEARKATS
Overall Record: Won 17, Lost 5 Southland Record: Won 9, Lost 0
Head Coach: Bob Marlin (Mississippi State, 1981)
Record at Sam Houston: Won 217, Lost 128
Overall Coaching Record:Won 340, Lost 163
Top Scorers: Corey Allmond, 6-1 guard, 16.0 pts.
Gilberto Clavell, 6-7 post, 15.6 pts., 6.0 reb.
Ashton Mitchell, 5-11 guard, 12.6 pts., 4.1 ast.
TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI ISLANDERS
Overall Record: Won12, Lost 10 Southland Record: Won 6, Lost 2
Head Coach: Perry Clark (Gettysburg, 1974)
Record at University: Won 39, Lost 45
Overall Coaching Record: Won 289, Lost 244
Top Scorers: Kevin Palmer, 6-6 forward, 19.4 pts.
Demond Watt, 6-7 forward, 12.4 pts., 7.2 reb
Justin Reynolds, 6-8 post, 11.9 pts.
SETTING THE STAGE
The top two teams in the 2010 Southland Conference race meet in a rematch Saturday at 7 p.m. as Sam Houston plays host to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Preseason favorite Sam Houston leads the 2010 race with a perfect 9-0 record. The Islands stand in second place with a 6-2 mark. A victory by the Bearkats would give Sam Houston a three-game lead in the regular season championship race with six games to go. A win by the Islanders would tighten the Kats' margin over the rest of the pack to only one game, making the stretch run a horse race.
LAST MEETING
When the Bearkats and the Islanders played for the first time this year on January 30, both were the only remaining unbeaten teams in the league. It was the Sam Houston State Bearkats who emerged on top of the standings with a 70-58 win at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi. 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. 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 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. Early in the game, the Islanders hit nine of their first 17 shots, but the Bearkats battled back. 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.
SAM HOUSTON VS. A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI SERIES RECORD
Saturday's game marks the 11th meeting between Sam Houston and A&M-Corpus Christi's men's basketball programs. The Bearkats have won seven times and the Islanders three. Sam Houston won 72-51 in Huntsville and 75-73 in Corpus Christi last year and 70-58 in Corpus on Jan. 30. The Islanders' last victory over SHSU came in 2008 in Corpus Christi by a score of 70-63.
BEARKATS OFF TO 9-0 START IN SOUTHLAND ACTION
Sam Houston stands 9-0 in Southland play this year, the first time their 23 years in the conference that the Bearkats have won their first nine league games. This year's nine consecutive conference victories ties with the 2003 championship team's mark as the longest Southland winning streak for Sam Houston.
LAST GAME
Guard Drae Murray's only points saved the day for Sam Houston in a 75-69 victory at Nicholls Wednesday.Murray hit two free throws with 43 seconds left to make it a two possession game as the Bearkats escaped the pesky Colonels. 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.
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.
The Bearkats had the 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 Colonels fought back.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.
20-VICTORY SEASONS
The Bearkats are three victories away from their fourth 20-win season in the last five years. Only 66 teams in NCAA Division I men's basketball had posted 20-win seasons in three of the last four years going into the start of the 2009-10 schedule. Of those 66 teams, Sam Houston ranked 36th in the nation in winning percentage with a 84-39 record from 2006 to 2009.
HIGH-SCORING BACKCOURT DUO
Senior guards Corey Allmond and Ashton Mitchell comprise the highest scoring backcourt duo in the Sam Houston's 23 years at the NCAA Division I level. The two players (who are roommates off the court) have combined for 28.6 points per game this season. Allmond has scored in double figures 19 times and Mitchell 13. The duo paired for 27.8 points last year.
Allmond, a senior kinesiology major from Oxon Hill, MD, leads the Southland and stands 14th nationally in three point field goals per game (3.1). He ranks No. 2 in Bearkat career 3-point shooting pct. (.425) and No. 5 in Bearkat career 3-point baskets (166). Mitchell, a senior criminal justice from New Orleans, LA, leads Southland in assists (4.8) for the second year in a row and is 32 points away from becoming the 21st men's basketball player to score 1,000 career points.
UNDER THE RIM
Gilberto Clavell, a transfer from Mayaquez, Puerto Rico, has made an immediate impact for the Bearkats this season. He ranks No. 5 in Southland Conference scoring (15.6) and leads the team in scoring in Southland play (15.6). Josten Crow, a junior from Houston/Westfield , ranks No. 1 in the Southland and No. 11 nationally in assist/turnover ratio (3.2) and stands No. 4 in the Southland in assists (3.8) and is the econd-leading rebounder on the Bearkat squad (5.5). Senior Preston Brown is adding 8.9 points per game while sophomore Antuan Bootle is averaging 6.3 rebounds in Southland play.
THE BEARKAT BENCH
Junior Lance Pevehouse gives Sam Houston a three-point scoring threat off the bench. Sophomore Drae Murray ranks No. 5 in the Southland Conference in assists. Freshman Aaron Thompson is a skilled shooter who is seeing action as a reserve post player.
SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE POST-SEASON TOURNAMENT
The top two teams from both divisions, plus the next four remaining teams with the best records will advance to the Merrill Center in Katy for the annual post-season SLC tournament to decide the Southland's NCAA playoff representative. The tournament begins on Wednesday March 10 with four quarter-final games. The semi-finals will be played Thursday night March 11. The finals will be televised live on ESPN2 on Saturday March 13.
Sam Houston will be seeking to earn its 13th berth in the Southland Post-Season Tournament. The Bearkats have been tournament participants for seven consecutive years.Sam Houston won the Southland tournament championship in 2003, finished as runner-up in 2006 and has won a spot in the semifinals five times. Tournament ticket booklets for the annual State Farm Southland Conference Post-Season Classic March 9-13 at the Merrell Center in Katy are now on-sale for $75 online at SHSU Ticket Office or by calling 936-294-1729. The Sam Houston athletic ticket office is located in the Ron Mafrige Field House at Bowers Stadium. Ticket office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
BEARKAT GAME TICKETS
Tickets for Bearkat basketball home games are on sale now on-line. 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. Ticket office telephone is (936) 294-1729.
