Junior guard Dakarai Henderson scored 23 points and true freshman Josh Delaney added 19 more as Sam Houston defeated Incarnate Word 78-72 in both team's Southland Conference opener Saturday afternoon in San Antonio.
The Bearkats beat the Cardinals at their own game, hitting nine three-pointers to UIW's six. Incarnate Word came into the contest as the Southland's leader in three point shooting. The home team hit four treys in the first five minutes but were successful on only two more the rest of the contest.
Sam Houston now stands 6-8 for the year. Incarnate Word dropped to 5-7.
“When you play on the road in the Southland Conference you need somebody to step up,” Sam Houston head coach Jason Hooten said. “Tonight it was Josh Delaney. He's really been shooting the ball well lately. He was on fire the other night at North Texas.”
Delaney got hot when it counted. Trailing by nine points, UIW took advantage of a mid-second half cold spell that saw Sam Houston go five minutes without a field goal. The Cardinals went on a 16-5 run to take a 55-52 lead with nine minutes remaining.
After a layup by Torry Butler and a defensive stop, Delaney hit two consecutive threes to put the Kats back in charge 60-55 with 7:50 to play. When the Cardinals rallied again to go up 61-60 with 5:36 on the clock, Delaney struck again and the Kats never trailed the rest of the way.
For the night, Delaney was 5-of-8 from beyond the arc. Henderson hit seven field goals and seven free throws to lead the Bearkats in scoring. Aurimas Majauska added nine points and grabbed eight rebounds. Jamal Williams and Albert Almanza each scored eight points. Williams assisted on eight Bearkat baskets.
“You have to give a lot of credit to Jamal Williams,” Hooten said. “Six games ago we asked him to be our point guard and his response was 'I'll do anything you ask if it will help us win.' He's got a great assist to turnover ratio and is making some good decisions out there for us.”
The Cardinals came out gunning four successful three-pointers in the first five minutes to jump out to an 11-6 margin and lead 21-20 halfway through the opening period. UIW ended the period 5-of-12 from beyond the arc.
Sam Houston responded with four treys themselves plus seven point on fast breaks and four from turnovers. The score was tied seven times in the first 20 minutes with nine lead changes.
A three-point by Delaney with 3:44 left in the half plus a drive by Williams and a field goal and free throw by Henderson in the final two minutes completed the half with an 8-2 to give the Bearkats a 41-35 lead at intermission.
Sam Houston now heads to Natchitoches, La., to take on Northwestern State Monday night.
