HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Whether it was from behind the 3-point line or at the charity stripe, nothing came easy for Sam Houston in the second half of its Southland Conference opener on Thursday night.

The Bearkats were unable to capitalize on 18 first-half Houston Baptist turnovers and were outscored by 18 points in the second half in a 79-65 loss against the Huskies at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum.

Sam Houston (9-5, 0-1 SLC) went just 2 of 15 from behind the arc in the second half while the Huskies (5-6, 1-0 SLC) could not be slowed down, taking a one-point lead with 17:47 remaining before pushing the advantage to double-digits just over six minutes later.

Senior forward Aurimas Majauskas notched a season-high 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Senior forward Torry Butler led the squad with five rebounds but Sam Houston was outrebounded 38-22 on the game.

HOW IT HAPPENED
After a slow start for both teams, marked by a 4-4 tie five minutes into the game, both Sam Houston and HBU began to click, making a combined four straight shots resulting in a 10-10 tie.

Sam Houston found its groove, using a 6-0 run in just 18 seconds capped by a three-pointer from Dakarai Henderson for a 16-10 lead. The story of the first half, however, was turnovers.

The Huskies gave the ball away 18 times resulting in 23 Sam Houston points. The Bearkats pushed their then game-high lead to 8 points on an Aurimas Majauskas jumper to make it 25-17 following a HBU turnover.

Albert Almanza again pushed Sam Houston's advantage to eight points on a jumper with 2:13 remaining but the Bearkats could not pull away. Five consecutive HBU points down the stretch and a Sam Houston scoring drought of three-and-a-half minutes had the Kat lead at 30-26 at the break.

The early portion of the second half belonged to the Huskies as the visitors used a 13-4 run, highlighted by a 10-0 stretch, to force a Sam Houston timeout and take a 39-34 lead with 16:30 remaining.

John Dewey III drained a jumper with 14:04 left to trim the deficit to three points but a 7-0 Houston Baptist run pushed the Huskies lead to double-digits at 48-38. Layups from Torry Butler and Jamal Williams would bring the deficit to eight but that would be as close as it got.

Seeking any last hope, Almanza drained a 3-pointer with 40 seconds remaining to trim the lead to 10 points and Houston Baptist proceeded to miss both free throws but the Bearkats could not convert points on the other end.

UP NEXT
Sam Houston looks to find the win column in league play as it hits the road for first of two straight beginning Saturday at Central Arkansas. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. and can be heard on 101.7 KSAM or online at ksam1017.com.

QUOTABLES
Head coach Jason Hooten on the second-half…
“They just kicked our tails. We couldn't stop them. We played almost every one on our team and we gave everyone a chance. It's kind of been out thing here of late from the 3-point line. We got 19 points from our post men and I was very pleased with our inside play but we just didn't make the 3-point shot. We got pounded on the boards. You aren't going to win many games when you get out-rebounded by 16.”

Head coach Jason Hooten allowing HBU to stay in the game at the break…
“It shouldn't have been a four-point game, it should have been a 10-point game. We gave them that 5-1 run right before the half. We had a chance to step on them and widen that thing and we just didn't do it.”