Led by Dakarai Henderson with 19 points, Sam Houston defeated Northwestern State 94-79 in Natchitoches, La., Monday night as the Bearkats remain undefeated in Southland Conference men's basketball play after their first two league games.
The victories Monday and last Saturday at Incarnate Word mark only the sixth time in Sam Houston's 29 seasons in the Southland Conference the Kats have opened league play with two victories. The other 2-0 starts came in 1990, 2003, 2007, 2010 and last year in 2015.
Josh Delaney, Aurimas Majauskas and Javonte' Spivey also scored in double figures. Delaney has totaled 47 points and 13 three point baskets in his last three outings. The red-shirt freshman went 4-of-9 from beyond the arc Monday night.
“It's hard to express how happy I am for this team,” Sam Houston head coach Jason Hooten said. “With the early season injuries to both our point guards and the demanding non-conference schedule we played, these guys have dealt with a lot of adversity and battled through it. That long trip we took from New York to California and then to Las Vegas was tough, but that's when we really started to see this young team begin to grow. Getting off to a 2-0 start by winning a pair of road games is a big boost for us.”
Sam Houston posted its best shooting performance of the season, hitting 35-of-61 from the field (57 percent) including 13-of-26 three point shots (also a best mark for the year).
Jamal Williams, playing only his seventh game as the Kats' point guard, scored nine points and assisted on five baskets as the sophomore went 4-for-4 from the field.
“Jamal has done a great job for us stepping up in a position he's never played before,” Hooten said. “We wouldn't be where we are right now without him. Josh Delaney is a youngster who wasn't supposed to be playing that much right now if our two point guards (Paul Baxter and Ameer Jackson) were heathly. Josh has kept working hard to get better. He's a great leader and a highly intelligent player.”
Sam Houston never trailed, jumping out to a 10-1 lead in the first four minutes and going up 25-10 on a three-pointer by Delaney at the 12:19 mark.
Northwestern State staged a comeback with a 13-3 run to cut the Kat margin to five, 28-23, on a Travon Joseph lay-up with 6:58 on the clock. The Bearkats turned the tables with an 18-3 run of their own, going up 46-26 on a lay-up by Dakarai Henderson with 3:11 left in the half.
After hitting 52.8 percent from the field (19-of-36) in the opening half, Sam Houston headed into the locker room at intermission with a 50-30 lead. Ten of the Kats' first half baskets were three-pointers.
The Sam men continued shooting well, hitting 64 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes. Leading by as many as 21 points three times, Sam Houston saw Northwestern State cut the margin to 11, 79-68, on a layup by Sabari Thompson with 6:19 to play. The Kats responded with three quick baskets, two by Henderson on a lay-up and a dunk and one by Majauskas.
“Northwestern State is a very good team and we never felt really safe until the end,” Hooten said. “We shot the ball well but, more than anything else, we executed well, not taking any bad shots.”
The victory was the fourth in a row in the past three years against the Demons.
Sam Houston now returns to Huntsville to play three of its next four games at home in Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum. The next opponent for the Bearkats is New Orleans Saturday at 4:30 p.m. in the nightcap for a Southland men's and women's doubleheader.
