Five players scored in double figures and Sam Houston set a Southland Conference and school record by going 22-of-22 at the free throw line as the Bearkats defeated Abilene Christian 84-71 in a road men's basketball contest Monday.
The contest was played in the Mabee Center on the campus of Hardin Simmons University due to a scheduling conflict with the Moody Center at ACU. The Bearkats enjoyed the change of venue.
“This gym has got some really nice soft rims,” Sam Houston head coach Jason Hooten said. “We shot it really well in practice here last night and this afternoon in walk-through. I really felt good about tonight. We were locked in and focused and played well.”
Aurimas Majauskas led the Bearkats with 18 points. Jovante' Spivey (15 points), Jamal Williams (14), Dakarai Henderson (13) and Albert Almanza (11) joined the double figure scoring parade. Spivey was 6-of-6 at the line and Torry Butler 5-of-5 on the way to the record for most free throw makes without a miss in a Southland Conference game.
The old Sam Houston record was 21-of-21 set against Howard Payne. The 22-of-22 free throws is the best in NCAA Division I men's basketball this season.
“You're always a better free throw shooting team when you have good shooters, and we have good shooters,” Hooten said. “We did a good job tonight defensively as well, holding two of their top scorers without a point.”
Parker Wentz, a 5-9 guard who averages 9.4 points per game, and Duran Porter, a 6-8 center who averages 8.9, both were held scoreless.
The Bearkats upped their record to 14-12 for the season and 9-4 in Southland Conference play to keep pace with league leaders Stephen F. Austin, A&M-Corpus Christi and Houston Baptist in the race for the four top seeds in the tournament in Katy.
Abilene Christian drops to 11-14 for the season and 6-6 on the year. The Wildcats took a 5-2 lead in the first two minutes of the contest, but never led again after but Sam Houston surged back with a 13-2 run to go up by eight points, 15-7, on a basket by Albert Almanza. ACU rallied midway through the half to cut the Bearkat margin to four points, 20-16 with 10:22 to play.
Sam Houston got hot again, leading by as many as 17 points with 2:28 to go in the period after a three-pointer by Jovante' Spivey. The Kats took a 44-35 lead into the locker room at intermission.
A three-pointer by Henderson one-and-a-half minutes into the second half put Sam Houston up 49-37. The Wildcats did not come closer than 10 points. A field goal and free throw by Williams with 4:06 to play put the Kats up by 20, 80-60, their biggest lead of the game.
Sam Houston plays host to Central Arkansas in the second game of a men's and women's doubleheader Saturday at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum. The women play at 2 p.m. and the men's game follows at approximately 4:15 p.m.
