Box Score
HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Five Sam Houston State Bearkats reached double figures, led by 21 points from John Dewey III as the Kats withstood Southern for a 91-83 win on Thursday night at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum.
The Kats (2-1) got 32 points off of 22 Jaguar (0-3) turnovers and saw its reserves win the bench battle 32-8 in the win. The night also served as a milestone night for senior Dakarai Henderson, who finished the night with 14 points and a pair of threes, giving him exactly 1,000 points for his career.
Sam Houston held just a four-point lead at the half, but built that lead up to 17 in the second half.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The teams spent the first six minutes of the game feeling each other out, but the Bearkats were still able to take the lead for good with a 9-0 run that included four free throws from Dewey that turned a 16-15 deficit into a 24-16 advantage nearly halfway through the first period.
Dewey and Henderson did the bulk of the heavy lifting in the opening half, combining for half of the Bearkats' 44 points. Henderson's second three of the night capped a quick 7-2 run that lasted just over a minute and gave Sam Houston its first double-digit lead at 34-24 with just over six minutes to the break.
The Kats shot just 41.0 percent from the field in the first half, but delivered three triples and hit 9-for-12 from the foul line to help build up a 44-40 lead at the break. Southern cut it to as close as 40-38 with 90 seconds to play before the end of the half, but Sam answered with buckets from Dewey and Christopher Galbreath Jr. on two of their final three possessions of the half.
Sam Houston shifted its focus inside in a second half that saw a combined 33 free throws as Torry Butler turned in 13 points and seven boards in the final 20 minutes on his way to his second straight double-double and third consecutive game with at least 10 rebounds.
The Kats got 24 of their 47 second-half points in the paint and hit 14-for-18 from the foul line, building its lead up to its peak at 67-50 just under eight minutes into the period. But Southern did not go quietly, with guard Trelon Burks getting 17 of his 19 points in the second half to keep the Jags within striking distance.
Two foul shots from Burks got the Jags back to within single digits with 8:22 to play, but the Kats responded with eight straight points – six from the foul line - to push the advantage back to 17.
Southern's Shawn Prudhomme, who finished with a game-high 26 points and 10 rebounds, canned a three late in the half that made got the Jags as close as they had been all half at 85-78, but Butler answered with consecutive scores off of offensive rebounds to put the game to bed.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Dewey canned 11-of-11 from the foul line on his way to a team-high 21 points, pacing five Bearkats with at least 11 in the scoring column. Butler finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds, his third consecutive game with at least 10 boards and his second straight double-double.
Jamal Williams reached double figures for the first time this season with 12 points off of 5-for-9 shooting, while Galbreath added 11 points and five boards.
RECORD WATCH
Henderson hit a pair of threes and got 10 of his 14 points in the first half, but it was his two foul shots with 7:05 to play in the second half that got him to the 1,000-point milestone for his career. The senior is just the 23rd player in Bearkat history to reach the plateau and is 37 points from passing Bell Mehrens for 22nd on the all-time scoring list. His two three-pointers also moved him into sole possession of fifth place at Sam Houston with 183 triples for his career. He is just 27 shy of setting a Bearkat career record.
UP NEXT
The Bearkats now have three of their next four games on the road, starting with a quick two game road trip that sends them to Tennessee Tech and Georgia Tech in the span of three days. They kick off that swing on Sunday with a 2 p.m. matinee meeting at Tennessee Tech.
