The Bearkats rallied from 10 points down in the second half and led by five at one point but in the end a three-point attempt rattled in and out and San Diego sealed a 77-72 win in the second round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament.
Sam Houston State (24-11) trailed by 10 at halftime but opened the second half on a 13-4 run to cut it to a one-point game. The Kats would take their first lead of the second half with eight minutes left and had a lead into the final minute.
“Our effort was just like it always is. I know a lot of people in the country respect our team because of that,” head coach Jason Hooten said. “I knew San Diego was going to be good. They were even better in person than they were on film. They finished fifth in a league that had two NCAA tournament teams. If just one more shot goes in then maybe we're sitting here talking about moving on. But that's part of the game.”
Senior Terrance Motley hit two three-pointers in the game but his shot, with 43 seconds left and the Kats trailing 73-72, looked like it was going in before ultimately popping out. The Toreros then put the game away from the free throw line. Motley finished with eight points in his final SHSU game.
Jabari Peters led the Bearkats with 18 points and seven rebounds while Paul Baxter scored 16 points and dished out seven assists. James Thomas, in his final Sam Houston game, scored 14 points. Kaheem Ransom scored 10 points.
San Diego guard Christopher Anderson scored 19 points and had 10 assists. Anderson was especially clutch late in the game, scoring 13 points in the final 5:30 of the game, including converting a three-point play to give USD the lead for good.
The 2013-14 season will be one to remember for Sam Houston. The Bearkats' 24 wins were the second-most in school history at the Division I level and their first round CIT win was the school's first ever win in the postseason.
“It's huge (to get to play in the postseason). I'm disappointed that we didn't win this game. We can't always get a team like San Diego to come play here and we had them right where we wanted them,” Hooten added.
