Dakarai Henderson scored 27 points and Aurimas Majauskas added 21 to lead Sam Houston to a 114-92 non-conference men's basketball victory over St. Thomas Tuesday night in the Bearkats home opener.

Bryon Makel and Jakobi Grigsby led the Celts with points totals of 23 and  18, respectively. Sam Houston now stands 1-1 while Saint Thomas dropped to 1-2.

Whistles filled the contest as the two teams combined for 71 personal fouls and 104 free throws. Sam Houston was 49 of 64 at the line, both marks school records. The old marks were 46 made charity shots against Lamar in 2009 and 58 attempts against Howard Payne in 1958.

Also in double figures for the Bearkats were Ameer Jackson with 18, Jovante' Spivey 11 and Jamal Williams  10.

“We proved we can score with 114 points tonight,” Sam Houston head coach Jason Hooten said. “But we weren't very good defensively. It's going to take some time to get where we need to be on both ends of the floor.”

The Celts started strong, building a 26-14 lead with 10:02 left in the opening half on a jumper by Aaron Reed. Sam Houston battled back to go up 48-46 at halftime. The Bearkats out-scored Saint Thomas 66-46 in the second 20 minutes.

Saint Thomas went 17-of-30 from the floor (56.7 percent) in the first half and shot 45 per cent for the game. The Celts hit 10 three-point baskets.

“Saint Thomas can really shoot the ball,” Hooten said. “A game like this can be a tough match-up for us because they play so many small guys and we've got guys 6-8 and 6-9. That's no excuse. We have a lot of work to do defensively.”

Sam Houston shot 52.6 percent for the game (30-of-57) but started slow with only 35.7 percent shooting in the opening period. Forty-nine points came at the foul line with Henderson going 14-of-17 on his free throws and Majauskas 11-of-12.

The Bearkats play next against Southern Illinois on Saturday at 1 p.m. back in Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum.