El Paso, Tex. - Gilberto Clavell led Sam Houston with 21 points and seven rebounds but Randy Culpepper countered with a 31-point performance to lead UTEP to a 74-65 come-from-behind victory over the Bearkats Sunday afternoon.
The Kats, who completed the non-conference portion of their 2010-11 schedule with a 7-6 record after the loss, led through most of the first half.
Drae Murray's three-point basket with 7:51 left in the first half gave Sam Houston a 25-15 lead. But UTEP finished the first period with a 17-7 run to tie the contest 32-32 at intermission.
The Miners, now 12-3, took a 36-34 lead on a layup by Claude Britten a minute-and-a-half into the second half and never trailed again.
A free-throw by Clavell put Sam Houston within four points, 58-54, with 7:15 to play. But UTEP finished the contest with a 16-11 run.
Outstanding shooting in the second half was the key to the Miners' victory as UTEP hit 17-of-26 in the final 20 minutes, a 65.4 shooting percentage. Culpepper posted an 11-of-20 shooting performance from the field.
Nafis Richardson scored 15 points for Sam Houston, one short of his season best of 16 against North Texas. Marcus Williams added 11 points. Clavell's 21-point performance marked his 12th double figure scoring game of the season.
Sam Houston ended the day going 25-of-62 from the field for 40.3 percent shooting.
Culpepper, a 6-0 guard, now ranks as the No. 7 all-time scorer in Conference USA history with 1,938 points.
Sam Houston opens the defense of its Southland Conference championship on Saturday, 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.
