Southeastern Louisiana Lions Visit Monday Night
1/10/2016 5:59:00 PM | Men's Basketball
SAM HOUSTON VS. SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA
Southland Conference Men's Basketball
Monday, January 11 – 6:30 p.m. – Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum
Tickets available online at www.gobearkats.com
Radio: KSAM 101.7 FM
BEARKATS 3-0 IN SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE PLAY
Sam Houston is 3-0 to open Southland Conference play for the fifth time in the Bearkats' 29 years in the league. The Kats posted road wins at Incarnate Word and Northwestern State and a home victory over New Orleans.
The previous 3-0 starts were in 1990, 2003, 2010 and 2015. In both 2003 and 2010 the Kats went on to win the regular season championship. The 2003 team started league action 4-0 before a loss at Southwest Texas. The 2010 squad opened with 11 consecutive conference wins. Last year's Bearkats went 6-0 before a loss to SFA.
BEARKATS VERSUS LIONS ALL-TIME SERIES
Sam Houston and Southeastern Louisiana are meeting for the 42nd time on the basketball court. The Bearkats lead the all-time series with 26 victories to the Lions' 15. The Sam men own a four-game winning streak against SLU that includes a 72-59 victory in Hammond last year. The Lions' last victory over the Kats came in Hammond in 2013 by a 69-65 score.
LIONS SCOUTING REPORT
Southeastern Louisiana is 0-2 in Southland play after an 89-69 loss to defending league champion Stephen F. Austin and a 77-58 defeat at Houston Baptist. Zay Jackson leads the Lions with 13.0 points per game. Keith Charleston is the squad's top rebounder with 6.2 boards per contest.
SOUTHLAND LEADERS
Dakarai Henderson and Aurimas Majauskas rank 12th and 13th in scoring in the Southland with respective averages of 14.1 and 13.9 points. Torry Butler is the league's fourth-leading rebounder with 6.9 boards per contest. Jamal Williams stands seventh in the league in assists (4.3).
THREE 2015 RESERVES NOW IN STARTING ROLES
Aurimas Majauskas, a 6-8 junior post player who was the back-up to Southland “Defensive Player of the Year” Michael Holyfield last season; Dakarai Henderson, a 6-2 junior guard who was the first player off the bench in 2015 and Jamal Williams, a 6-4 sophomore guard who also was a key reserve, all have stepped into starting roles this season. Majauskas and Williams has started every game and Henderson has started all but one contest.
The trio has accounted for 37.1 of Sam Houston's 75.7 points per game this season. Henderson leads the team with a 14.1 average and Majauskas adds 13.9 per game. The pair have posted a combined 11 double-figure games. Williams has taken over as the Kats' point guard. He averaged 9.2 points and leads the team with 68 assists.
SEVEN NEWCOMERS NOW ARE BEARKATS
Six new players (one freshman and five transfers) join the team this season. The newcomers include junior college transfers 6-1 Jalin Barnes (Barton County), 6-5 Torry Butler (Three Rivers Community College), 6-8 Andre Sands (Casper College) and 6-0 Jovante' Spivey (South Georgia State). Marc Fortin, a 6-9 freshman from Quebec City, Quebec, also joins the squad.
All six are playing important roles on a team that is averaging 25.4 points off the bench per game. Butler is the Bearkats' rebound leader with 110 boards (6.9 per game). Jovante Spivey is averaging 19.7 minutes per game and has started five games this year.
CHALLENGING NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
Road games at SMU, California, Texas Tech, UTEP and North Texas and a tournament match-up with UC-Irvine made up the Bearkats' challenging non-conference schedule. Sam Houston completed pre-Southland play with a 5-8 record.
Sam Houston defeated Bethune-Cookman 71-46 in Las Vegas, picked up a road victory at LIU-Brooklyn 75-69 and took Southern Illinois to overtime at home in other action against NCAA Division I opponents.
COACH HOOTEN SAYS
“It's really great to be 3-0 after the first week of Southland Conference play. The two wins on the road and pulling out a close victory at the end Saturday against New Orleans has got to do a lot for this young team's confidence. These victories have been a total team effort. Southeastern Louisiana is going to present another challenge. It's important we continue to play with intensity."
