Texas College Steers Visit Monday at 6:30 p.m.
2/8/2015 4:42:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Sam Houston men's basketball team takes a break from Southland Conference action to play host to Texas College Monday night in a 6:30 p.m. contest at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum.
The Bearkats bring an 18-5 record into the tilt. Sam Houston has won its last four games in a row and 13 of its last 14 contests.
Texas College from Tyler is a member of the NAIA Red River Athletic Conference. The Steers stand 7-19 for the year. Jason Williams, a 6-7 center, is the team's leading scorer with 9.8 points and 6.7 rebounds per contest.
Sam Houston's 18-5 overall record and 10-1 Southland performance mark the Bearkats' best starts since the 2010 league championship season. The 2010 squad rolled to a 19-5 record before their sixth loss and won 11 consecutive games before the first of two SLC losses.
A victory Monday night would put the SHSU men one win away from another 20-victory season.
The Bearkats have posted seven 20-or-more victory seasons at the NCAA Division I level. The seasons were 1999-2000 (22-7), 2002-03 (23-7), 2005-06 (22-9), 2006-07 (21-10), 2007-08 (23-8), 2009-10 (25-8) and 2013-14 (24-11). SHSU went 27-6 in 1985-86 in its transitional season from Division II to Division I.
Head coach Jason Hooten has been part of each of the five 20-win seasons since 2005-06 as either assistant coach or at the helm of the Bearkat program.
Monday will mark 6-11 SHSU senior Michael Holyfield's 100th start in four years at Sam Houston. A consistent starting line-up has been a trademark of the Bearkats. Sam Houston started the same line-up all 35 games in 2014. Four of those players have started each contest in 2015.
This year's starters have played a combined 405 games including 365 total starts. Paul Baxter has started 79 times and DeMarcus Gatlin 71. Senior guards Jabari Peters and Kaheem Ransom both have started 58 consecutive games since they joined the Kats as transfers last year.
Sam Houston will return to Southland Conference action Saturday when they face a rematch with Houston Baptist in a 7:30 p.m. game at HBU's Sharp Gymnasium.
The Bearkats hold down second place in the 2015 league race with a 10-1 record, one-half game behind 9-0 Stephen F. Austin. Northwestern State and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi both are tied for third place behind the Kats with identical 7-3 marks.
All Sam Houston men's basketball games are broadcast live on KSAM 101.7 FM in the Walker County area.
