Led by Kaheem Ransom with a season-high 20 points, Sam Houston men's basketball team rolled to an 87-64 victory over Houston Baptist to climb into first place in the Southland Conference.

The Bearkats' win combined with a Saturday afternoon loss by Stephen F. Austin loss to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi gives SHSU a half-game lead over the Lumberjacks. The Kats stand 11-1 in the league while SFA is 10-1.

The Bearkats also marked their eighth season with 20 or more victories in their 28 years of competition at the NCAA Division I level. At 20-5 this year, the 2015 team is the fastest of the eight squads to post 20 wins to reach the magic victory number. All the other seven years, the Kats earned their 20th win in their 26th game of the year.

Sam Houston never trailed, opening the game with 16-2 run and leading by as many as 30 in the first half.

“Kaheem gave us a great start, scoring 16 in the first half and ending up with 20 points in 25 minutes,” SHSU head coach Jason Hooten said. “After a couple of disappointing practices this week, I was worried about us being complacent coming in tonight's game. We used our athleticism well.”

Three other Bearkats scored in double figures as Dakarai Henderson scored 13 points, DeMarcus Gatlin totaled 12 and Paul Baxter scored 11. Sam Houston has four or more players in double figures in one game 13 times this season.

“That just shows how unselfish this team is,” Hooten said. “They're focused on one thing and that's winning.”

Anthony Odunsi led HBU with 13 points. The Huskies dropped to 11-11 for the year and 6-6 in Southland play.

Sam Houston hit 53.6 percent from the field (30-of-56), their fourth best shooting night of the season. The Kats scored 16 of those points on fast breaks and out-scored HBU 38-20 in the paint.

In a first half that saw SHSU out-score the Huskies 55-27, the Kats went 19-of-31 for 61.3 per cent shooting.

The Bearkats return to Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum to play host to Abilene Christian Monday night at 6:30 p.m.