Showdown with East Division leaders Monday
2/13/2011 8:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Led by two of the top 11 scorers in the league and the Southland's top rebounder, McNeese owns a 6-3 SLC mark and is 14-8 for the season. That record includes 11 consecutive victories at home.
"It will be an unbelievable challenge for our ballclub. (McNeese) is 11-0 at home," Hooten said. "It will be tough challenge for us. We have six games left and we will take them one at a time. It is just the next game on our schedule."
The Cowboys are led in scoring by Patrick Richard with 15.6 points per game and Diego Kapelan who is averaging 13.8 points. McNeese center P. J. Alawoya leads the league in rebounding with 10.1 per contest.
Sam Houston stands 13-10 for the year and is tied with Stephen F. Austin for second best in the West Division, both with 6-4 Southland records. The Bearkats arrive in Lake Charles with the league's longest winning streak, having won their last four games.
Seniors Gilberto Clavell and Josten Crow continue to lead the Bearkats with double figure scoring averages. Clavell is the league's second-leading scorer and has upped his career point total to 1,014.
The game will be broadcast live on KSAM 101.7 FM in the Huntsville area and on www.gobearkats.com on the web.
While McNeese leads the all-time men's basketball series with Sam Houston 34 victories to 26, the Bearkats have won their last four games with the Cowboys.
Sam Houston downed the Cowboys 74-56 in Huntsville last year and 75-60 in Lake Charles in 2009. The Kats won 64-49 in Lake Charles and edged McNeese 64-62 in overtime in the first round of the 2008 Southland tournament in Katy.
The Cowboys' last victory over Sam Houston was in 2007 by a 59-58 score in overtime in Lake Charles.
Following the McNeese State game, SHSU then meets Lamar in Beaumont on Saturday. The next Bearkat home game at Johnson Coliseum will be Wednesday, Feb. 28, when the Kats host Northwestern State.
Tickets for all Sam Houston home athletic events are on sale online now at www.gobearkats.com/tickets or at the SHSU 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) 294-1729.
