The Bearkats set the tone early in the second half and put Southeastern Louisiana away while cruising to a 71-54 win. Sam Houston State held the Lions off the board for the first four minutes of the second half while extending their lead to as much as 19 points.

The win secures SHSU's seventh 20-win basketball season at the Division I level and first since the 2009-10 season.

“The most important thing is that we came out tonight and played the way we're capable of playing,” head coach Jason Hooten said. “The last two games we played at home were probably two of our better defensive games of the year and we talked about that. I thought tonight we were really good on both ends of the floor.”

Southeastern held their only lead of the game around the midway point of the first half but the Bearkat bench came up huge. Dakarai Henderson scored 11 points on a trio of three-pointers while Nathaniel Mason scored seven points and was a perfect three-for-three from the floor.

The Bearkats took a 37-27 lead at halftime and wouldn't trail the rest of the way. The closest the Lions would get in the second half was within 13 points.

Kaheem Ransom and Henderson each finished the game with 11 points. Michael Holyfield scored eight points and pulled down 13 rebounds. James Thomas finished with nine points while Paul Baxter had eight.

With the win the Kats sit third in the Southland standings heading into the final game of the season Saturday. SHSU hosts New Orleans at 3:45 p.m. at Johnson Coliseum and it will be the final home game for four seniors.