Junior center Aurimas Majauskas scored 17 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to lead Sam Houston to a 70-63 Southland Conference men's basketball victory over Southeastern Louisiana Monday night.

The win keeps the Bearkats unbeaten, 4-0, in Southland Conference play. The Sam men are 9-8 for the year. The Lions dropped to 2-14 for the season and 0-3 in the league.

Moses Greenwood led SLU with 16 points. Zay Jackson added 15 more. The contest was close throughout with seven ties and nine lead changes. The last tie came at 57-57 with 3:59 remaining on a layup by SLU's Jordan Capps.

A jumper by Dakarai Henderson, who scored 12 for Sam Houston, started an 8-0 run for the Bearkats with SHSU going up 65-47 on a pair of free throws by Jovante Spivey with 46 seconds remaining.

“This is one of those games that shows you that you can't know what to expect from a team by just looking at their record,” Sam Houston head coach Jason Hooten said. “This was a tough one and I was proud of the way our kids kept fighting.”

Jamal Williams added nine points and assisted on eight other scored. Spivey and Albert Almanza each scored eight points.

Sam Houston opened the game with a four-point lead, 9-5, on a lay-up by Majauskas five minutes into the contest. The Lions fought back to tie the contest five times in the opening half.

Southeastern Louisiana led for almost 11 minutes in the period, getting out to a six-point margin with 6:04 remaining, 23-17. The pair went into the locker room at intermission tied 31-31.

“We got some big plays down the stretch,” Hooten said. “Aurimas came up big for us tonight but that's what you expect from a player of his caliber.”

Sam Houston led in the game for 17:43 while Southeastern Louisiana held the lead for 16:13 total. The Lions out-score the Kats 38-24 in the points. Sam Houston picked up 13 points off SLU's 15 turnovers.

The Sam men's next action is Saturday in a men's and women's doubleheader in Lake Charles, La., against the McNeese State Cowboys.