In 1836, the tensions in the Texas political arena ran high, as citizens of the vast new Republic of Texas were learning what it was to be free from the tyrannical clutches of General Santa Anna and his Mexican army.

At the center of the bureaucratic discourse were rivals Sam Houston and Mirabeau Lamar. The two combatants opinions were on the opposite ends of the spectrum on everything from clothing to relations with Mexico.

It's been 180 years, but those same tensions continued on the hardwood of the Montagne Center in Beaumont as Sam Houston State and Lamar battled to a 69-66 Bearkat win on Monday night.  

Just like the 1838 Texas Presidential campaign of their namesake, Lamar made a strong run late. But unlike Mirabeau, who won the second Texas presidential election, the Cardinals bid for a Southland Conference victory fell short. Lamar cut a 22-point second half lead to one, but a Dakarai Henderson layup and four Jamal Williams free throws sealed the Bearkat victory.

“It's never easy when you come over here,” said head coach Jason Hooten. “Even when we were up 22 I never felt comfortable. We just have to do a better job of finishing. But I think it says a lot about our guys to be able to hang on and get a win we needed after losing on Saturday.”

Leading by 13 at the half, after scoring 24 of 35 first-half points in the paint, the Kats (12-11 overall, 7-3 Southland) started the second stanza strong. Like the cannons at the Battle of San Jacinto, Sam Houston was firing from long range, getting 3's from Henderson, Jovante' Spivey and Albert Almanza. The later put the Kats up 54-32 with a little more than 14 minutes remaining in the game.

But a furious charge by the Cardinals (10-12, 2-8), bringing the red-clad home fans of 2,076 to their feet, saw Lamar push the Sam Houston lead to just one with 45 seconds to play in the contest. Bothered by a Cardinal press that forced 18 SHSU turnovers that lead to 25 LU points, the Kats were having trouble just crossing the time line. But with the one point lead, Spivey slipped through the Lamar trap and fed a pass to Henderson who finished off the layup with 36 ticks remaining on the clock.

“The second half they did a real good job of pressuring us and making us speed up and try to attack,” Hooten said. “But this was a bounce back game and our guys were resilient and did a good job of getting ready to come back out and play.”

Aurimas Majauskas once again put up a strong performance for Hooten's squad, scoring a game-high 17 points while pulling down eight rebounds. He was efficient with his shots as well, hitting 5-of-7 from the floor and converting 7-of-9 from the charity stripe.

Spivey continued his strong play against Southland foes scoring 14 with Henderson finished the night with 11 thanks to two late key field goals.

The Kats will now shift their attention to Corpus Christi for a Saturday contest against the third-place Islanders.