The Sam Houston State men's basketball team stepped out of Southland play and stayed sharp with an 88-39 win over Texas College Monday night at Johnson Coliseum. The Bearkats improved to 19-5 overall and are one win away from a second consecutive season with 20 or more wins.

“We came out and played hard. The guys were focused like I wanted them to be,” SHSU head coach Jason Hooten said. “We shot the ball really well early which was good to see and really good to see that we got it inside and out. We got a chance to do a lot of things we wanted to do in this game and the most important thing is we got the chance to play a lot of guys.”

Sam Houston jumped out to a 24-0 lead to open the game and never looked back. The Kats played their trademark great defense and didn't allow Texas College to score its first basket of the game until the 13:25 mark of the first half.

Four different Bearkats scored in double figures, led by 16 from DeMarcus Gatlin. The senior from Houston also pulled down four rebounds and dished out three assists.

Aurimas Majauskas scored 15 points for his second-highest point total of the season. The sophomore was 6-of-7 shooting in the game.

Dakarai Henderson added 10 points for his second straight double-digit scoring performance.

Michael Holyfield was the Bearkats' leading rebounder with nine boards. The Kats outrebounded the Steers 45-23 and dominated the paint.

The Kats were able to play 14 different players in the game and 12 of them scored.

“The reason we played this game is because we wanted to stay in a routine. We watched film yesterday, talked about them and got on the floor and walked through some stuff. The NCAA lets us play 31 games, so why play 30,” said Hooten.

Sam Houston will be back in action at Houston Baptist Saturday at 7:30 p.m.