CARBONDALE, Ill. – Sam Houston State got 26 points from Chris Galbreath Jr. and scored a big road win with a 79-73 victory over Southern Illinois on Saturday afternoon at SIU Arena.

Galbreath was one of three Bearkats (6-3) in double figures, hitting 10 of 15 from the floor in helping Sam Houston shoot a 54.5 percent from the floor.

The Salukis (5-5) overcame an 18-point first-half deficit to score a win over the Bearkats in Huntsville a year ago, but could not complete the comeback this time, despite cutting a 16-point lead down to as low as three in the second half.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Bearkats hit better than 54 percent of their shots in the opening half, getting 16 points from Galbreath in establishing a 42-32 lead at the break. Butler added 10 points and Sam led by as much as 16 late in the half before a late 8-0 SIU run cut the lead in half before a Galbreath hook shot sent Sam to the locker room with a double-digit advantage.

The Salukis carried that momentum into the second half, opening on a 7-2 run and getting the lead down to just 46-43 less than five minutes into the period. But Sam Houston answered with an 8-2 spurt of its own, getting the final five points on back-to-back possessions from junior guard Jamal Williams.

Butler added five straight points of his own later in the half to push the lead back up to 13 before SIU started to chip away at it again. The Salukis got as close as 64-60 with 4?25 to go, but John Dewey III got two back with his only bucket of the game and then picked up one of his 10 assists on the game by finding Galbreath for a score less than 10 seconds later after Galbreath had picked off an SIU pass on the press to get the lead back to 68-60.

From there the Kats never let SIU get any closer than five, hitting four out of five from the foul line in the game's final 70 seconds.

KEY STATS
Sam Houston turned the ball over a season-low seven times on Saturday, while turning the Salukis over 16 times and turning that into 17 points. The Kats got 33 points off the bench, led by Galbreath's 26.

PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Chris Galbreath Jr. hit 10-for-15 from the floor and poured in 26 points in 27 minutes, adding four rebounds and a pair of blocks. It was the most points by a Bearkat this season, and the second time Sam has had a player pump in 20 or more in a game.

Torry Butler also set a new career high with 17 points on 8-for-13 shooting while pulling in nine rebounds, while Aurimas Majauskas had 17 points and four boards as well. Point guard John Dewey III, who entered the day as the Kats' leading scorer at 11.3 points per game, hit just one bucket but dished out 10 assists with only a pair of turnovers.

UP NEXT
The Bearkats return to Johnson Coliseum on Tuesday for the first of three straight home games when they host Sul Ross. Sam will then host North Texas on Saturday before closing out the home stretch against Randall on Dec. 17.