HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Aurimas Majauskas had a season-high 17 points and the Sam Houston State Bearkats got back in the win column by outlasting Idaho, 69-62, on Friday at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum.

The Kats (4-2) found themselves tied up with the Vandals (3-2) at 57-57 with less than five minutes to play, but snapped the tie with a free throw from Jovante' Spivey and then got buckets from Torry Butler and then turned a steal from Jamal Williams into a score from Paul Baxter for a quick five-point spurt that gave them the lead for good.

Sam Houston hit just 4-for-17 from beyond the arc for the night, but did plenty of work from the foul line, hitting 21-for-30 for the game and 16-for-22 in the second half.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The offense came slowly for both teams in the early going with the Bearkats getting the lead up to 12-5 on the first of two threes in the game for Albert Almanza nearly eight minutes in. Another Bearkat three, this one from Baxter three minutes later upped the lead to its highest at 19-7.

Idaho did not crack double digits until Trevon Allen hit a triple with 7:33 to play in the half. From there the Vandals, who hit 40 percent from the field in the first period, chipped away at the lead, eventually scoring the final six points of the half on threes from Brayon Blake and Victor Sanders in the final 90 seconds to go into the locker room down just 32-30.

The Kats held onto the lead for the first six minutes of the second half, before Idaho went up for the first time in the game at 40-39 on free throws from reserve guard Nick Blair. From there the lead would change hands eight times in the final 13 minutes with neither team able to go up by more than three until the Kats' late run.

In a second half that saw a combined 42 foul shots attempted, the Vandals held their final lead at 57-55 on freebies from Pat Ingram before Majauskas got free and tied it up one possession later to spark an 8-0 Bearkat run.

Baxter's late layup off of Williams' steal proved to be the last Sam Houston field goal of the night with 3:36 to play, but the Kats went 6-for-8 down the stretch to finish things off.

PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Majauskas turned in his best all-around game of the season, finishing with a night with a game-high 17 points on 6-for-8 shooting and eight rebounds. Butler added 12 points and seven boards and Baxter had 11 points of his own. Williams dished out a team-best four assists and had two steals, including the key steal and feed to Baxter in the final minutes for the bucket tha opened up the lead to 63-58.

KEY STAT
Idaho trailed by as much as 12 in the opening period, but caught fire late in the half from three. The Vandals took just four shots inside the arc in the first 20 minutes, but hit 7-for-16 from three to trail by just two at the break. Sam Houston amped up the defense on the perimeter in the second period, allowing the Vandals just one make in nine tries from distance and keeping them at just 37.5 percent from the floor for the game.

UP NEXT
The Bearkats will next head to Waco for a Wednesday night meeting with Baylor. The game is scheduled to be aired live on FSSW+.