Key games Saturday & Sunday at ORU
3/1/2014 8:33:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The battle for the No. 2 seed at the 2014 Southland Conference tournament in Katy beginning March 15 begins in earnest Saturday night at the Mabee Center in Tulsa, Okla.
That's where the Sam Houston men's basketball team will face off with Oral Roberts in the Bearkats' final regular season road game. Tipoff is at 7:30 p.m.
After a disappointing 80-71 loss at Central Arkansas Thursday night, the Kats find themselves in a tie for second place in the league race with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Both teams own 11-4 Southland records.
Oral Roberts stands in fourth place, two games behind the Bearkats and the Islanders in standings with three games to play. The prize for earning the No. 2 seed is a bye into the semifinals in Katy.
“We had an opportunity to nail that No. 2 spot down, but now it looks like it's going to be a dogfight,” SHSU head coach Jason Hooten said. “We need to play our best Saturday.”
The contest marks the only meeting with ORU this year and the last time the Eagles will face the Bearkats as a Southland Conference member. The all-time series is tied 3-3, but Sam Houston won in the last meeting of the pair. SHSU knocked ORU out of last year's Southland tournament with a 58-55 upset in the quarterfinals.
Shawn Glover, a 6-7 senior forward, leads ORU with 21.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. Sam Houston juniors Jabari Peters (12.7 points) and Kaheem Ransom (11.5) are the Bearkats' top scorers.
Due to a scheduling conflict in the Mabee Center Saturday, Sam Houston's women's basketball team will not play ORU until Sunday at 1 p.m.
The Bearkat women currently are on the outside looking in as far as post-season play in Katy is concerned. With three games left including home contests against Southeastern Louisiana and New Orleans next week, the women need to get back on the winning track to earn a tournament berth.
