Las Vegas, Nevada – Kaheem Ransom scored 13 points and Jabari Peters added 11 as Sam Houston State came within inches of knocking off UNLV on the Rebels' home floor Sunday night.
Down 57-49 with 3:57 to play, the Bearkats went on an 8-2 run in the final two minutes and had a shot at the buzzer for the win. Dakari Hendenson's three-point attempt from the left side hit the near rim and rolled off to allow UNLV to escape with a 59-57 victory.
Rashed Vaughn led the Rebels with 18 points including one of the two free throws in the final 35 seconds that proved the game-winners for UNLV.
Michael Holyfield and Marcus Burwell led Sam Houston with 10 rebounds each as the Bearkats out-boarded UNLV 53-38. DeMarcus Gatlin added eight points and Holyfield scored six for the SHSU men.
The Kats, who now stand 1-1 for the year, led by as many as 11 points early in the second half. But a four-minute scoreless run midway through the second period allowed the Rebels to rally.
UNLV upped its record to 2-0, coming from 11 points down for the second time in three days to earn a home court victory at the Thomas and Mack Center. The Rebels came back to defeat Morehead State by one point Friday night.
The Bearkats jumped out to an early 15-9 lead on a three-pointer by Ransom nine minutes into the game. UNLV tied the score 17-17 with an 8-2 run.
Two free throws by Ransom started a 13-3 Sam Houston run. Burwell's three-point basket put the Kats up 30-20 with 4:30 in the half. However, the SHSU men went scoreless the rest of the period as the Rebels cut the margin to two, 30-28, at intermission.
Sam Houston opened with 4-0 run in the first 4:31 of the second half to lead by 11, 39-28, on a basket by Ransom. The Kats went cold, however, going scoreless for the next five minutes as the Rebels took a 41-39 lead with a 13-0 run.
The SHSU men led two more times, 42-41 on a DeMarcus Gatlin basket at 10:07 and 47-43 on a three-pointer by Dakari Henderson with 8:30 remaining. Then UNLV moved ahead to stay with an 11-0 run to go up 54-47 with five minutes to play.
Baskets by Holyfield with 4:42 and 2:51 remaining pulled SHSU within six, 57-51. Then Peters bagged a trey to cut the margin to 57-54 with 1:09 to play.
Cody Doolin made it 58-54 with a free throw with 25 seconds left before Ransom cut it to one point with a three-pointer with 17 seconds left. Sam Houston got the ball back one more time to set up Henderson's final three-point attempt.
Sam Houston now heads to Fairfield, Conn., for three games in the Coaches Versus Cancer Tournament this weekend. The Kats face South Dakota, Fairfield and Wofford.
