SHSU faces JMU & Towson at Lumberjack Invt
12/5/2013 8:15:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Sam Houston men's basketball opens play in its second of two regular season tournaments Friday when the Bearkats take on James Madison in Nacogdoches at 6 p.m.
The contest is part of the E-Tech Lumberjack Classic hosted by Stephen F. Austin Friday and Saturday. In Friday's first game, the Bearkats will face off with James Madison at 6:00 p.m. while SFA will play Towson at 8:15 p.m. The Jacks and the Kats will flip opponents on Saturday with Sam Houston playing Towson at 5:30 p.m.
James Madison puts a young but tall and athletic squad on the floor this year after finishing fourth in the Colonial Athletic Association last year. JMU's two shortest players both are 6-4.
Charles Cooke, a 6-6 sophomore, leads James Madison with a 13.8 average while 6-4 Ron Curry is knocking down 11.9 points per game.
JMU brings a 2-6 record into the Classic but that includes losses to Virginia, Valparaiso, Detroit and Milwaukee.
Sam Houston is 5-3 after splitting games last week at the Corpus Christi Islander Invitational. The Bearkats defeated Arkansas-Pine Bluff before falling by four to Liberty.
Junior college transfers Kaheem Ransom and Jabari Peters continues to lead the Kats in scoring with averages of 12.6 and 12.5 points per game, respectively.
Sophomore point guard Paul Baxter is scoring 9.9 points per game.
Towson is off to its best start since 1977 with a 6-2 record. The Tigers' only losses have come at the hands of Kansas and Villanova.
Following the tournament in Nacogdoches, the Bearkats have one stop left on their seven-game, three week road swing. Sam Houston takes on Toledo in Ohio next Saturday, Dec. 14.
The Bearkats return to Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum on Saturday, Dec. 28, to face LIU-Brooklyn.
