Men travel to Thibodaux
1/13/2012 7:46:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Both teams are looking for their first Southland Conference victory.
Sam Houston State (6-10, 0-2) had West Division preseason favorite UTSA on the ropes but the Roadrunners came back to hit a buzzer beater for a 62-60 win in the Kats' Southland opener last Sunday. UTA handed SHSU a 66-40 loss in Arlington Wednesday.
Nicholls State (4-11, 0-3) led by as many as 19 points Wednesday against Northwestern State, but the Demons rallied to win 80-79.
Sam Houston returns only three lettermen from its 2011 Western Division co-championship team and two of those players have been on the bench with injuries for more than a month.
Nicholls puts a squad with four true freshmen, two junior transfers and four other players who did not play last year on the floor. But five Colonels scored in double figures in their last outing against the Demons led by Shane Rillieux's team-high 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting. Trevon Lewis, Jeremy Smith and Sterling Bailey each finished with 14.
Four transfers rank among the Bearkats' top five scorers with Konner Tucker (11.0 points per game), Steven Werner (9.8), Demarcus Gatlin (9.7) and Darius Gatlin (7.4) in the starting lineup. Senior Marcus James, a returning letterman is averaging 9.1 points and 7.1 rebounds.
Antuan Bootle, a 6-7 senior post player who is the only starter back from the 2011 team, saw his first action in more than a month Wednesday at UTA.
"It's great to have Antuan back," Sam Houston head coach Jason Hooten said. "He brings enthusiasm and experience to the floor for us. The kids have got to keep their heads up and continue to play hard-nosed defense. Our goal is to make it to the tournament in Katy and then anything could happen."
KSAM 101.7 FM will broadcast Saturday afternoon's game in Thibodaux live.
The Sam Houston State men return to Johnson Coliseum for a pair of home games as the Bearkats play host to Texas State Wednesday Jan. 18 and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Saturday Jan. 21.
Tickets for all men's home basketball games are available now online 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) 294-1764.
