KATY -- For the second consecutive season Sam Houston State was unable to beat rival Stephen F. Austin in the Southland Tournament final as the Bearkats fell 83-70 to SFA Saturday night at the Merrell Center.
“First of all I have to give credit to Stephen F. Austin, they were the better team tonight,” Head coach Jason Hooten said. “We tried to do some different things than we did last Saturday and as a coach when you've tried just about everything you can try and somebody beats you three times they're just better than you. It's hard to deal with obviously. At the end of the day I know our guys went out there and played their hardest.”
The Kats played outstanding for the first 15 minutes of the game and a Kaheem Ransom 3-pointer gave the Bearkats a 25-24 lead with 5:16 to go in the first period. The senior guard finished the game with 16 points, six rebounds and three assists.
SFA followed Ransom's three with a 13-2 run to close the first half with a 37-27 lead. Sam Houston missed seven straight shots in the final 5:16 of the opening period. A pair of free-throws by Jamal Williams were the Kats only points over that stretch.
In the second half the Bearkats cut the Lumberjack lead to eight but weren't able to get any closer.
“SFA shot 48-percent from the field and we shot 36. That was the difference in the game. It's a bad matchup for us but there's a reason they've lost one conference game in the last two years. They're a bad matchup for a lot of people.”
Sam Houston forced a turnover on the first possession of the game before going down the floor and opening the scoring with an alley-oop dunk by Michael Holyfield. The senior post player finished with a team-high 18 points and 12 rebounds.
Holyfield's season-high of 18 points, combined with his 12 points and 14 points in the semifinals earned him All-Tournament honors. Jabari Peters joined him on the All-Tournament team.
Ransom completed a three-point play to tie the game 11-11 early on. The senior guard scored six of the Bearkats first 11 points of the game.
A 6-0 run by SFA halfway through the first half prompted a timeout by Bearkat head coach Jason Hooten. The Kats went cold from the field and missed seven straight shots.
Jabari Peters broke the cold stretch with a contested layup and Demarcus Gatlin followed with a layup of his own to cut the lead to 19-17 and Lumberjack head coach Brad Underwood followed with a timeout.
The Kats came right out of a timeout with a great play drawn up. Peters lobbed the inbound pass for Jamal Williams to throw down an acrobatic dunk. Peters followed with a layup to cut the score to 22-21 with less than seven minutes left in the first half.
The first half ended with a banked a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give SFA the 37-27 halftime lead.
Hooten and his players are still hopeful of postseason basketball in some form.
“I'm not sure if anyone in the Southland has ever gotten an at-large berth to the NIT but I think we deserve that. If someone puts us in the NIT I think we can make our conference really proud. I think there are also some other tournaments that will call as well,” Hooten said.
“It would mean a lot for us seniors,” Holyfield said when asked about the possibility of playing in a postseason tournament. “We've been through a lot. We've fought and we've grinded. I love these guys and I'm willing to go above and beyond for them. It would mean a lot to me.”
