BATON ROUGE, LA – Jabari Peters was one of four Bearkats who scored in double figures as Sam Houston fell to LSU 76-67 Saturday night at the Mavarich Arena.

The victory was the Tigers' fourth in a row. LSU was led by Jordan Mickey with 21 points and 15 rebounds.

Paul Baxter scored 11 points and Kaheem Ransom and Michael Holyfield each scored 10 points. Holyfield led the Kats with 14 rebounds.

Sam Houston, now 5-4, trailed LSU 61-58 with 4:05 mark. LSU's Jarell Martin hit a critical three-pointer to enable the Tigers to score 15 of the game's final 24 points down the stretch.

 “LSU is a lot bigger than we are,” SHSU head coach Jason Hooten said. “ They have an excellent team. We had to fight and claw in this game. I'm really excited the direction we are going in.”

The Kats used a 17-4 run to build an eight-point advantage in the opening 20 minutes. Ransom scored six of the Bearkats points during that stretch. A three-pointer by Ransom gave Sam Houston a 21-13 lead with 8:38 remaining before intermission.

The Tigers got off to a quick start after halftime, extending their advantage to 50-40 with 13:50 to play.

But a pair of three-pointers by Peters put the Kats down by just four a minute later.

"You certainly have to credit a really good basketball team in Sam Houston State," LSU head coach Johnny Jones said. "The way they executed both offensively and defensively and stayed in the game in the first half and how they really pushed us out there late in the second half. I think their scores against other opponents that they have played this year especially against Texas A&M and UNLV, both on the road and how close those scores were, is indicative of the type of team that they are."

Sam Houston will complete the non-conference portion of its schedule with three home games in December. The Bearkats play host to Eastern Washington Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum.