CORPUS CHRISTI – As is usually the case when Sam Houston and A&M Corpus Christi get together, the game comes down to the wire. That was the case again on Saturday night as the Islanders edged out the Kats 51-48 at the American Bank Center.

The Bearkats (12-12, 7-4) fought back from a 10-point deficit in the second half to take a 1-point lead with 3:05 to play on a pair of Dakarai Henderson free throws. But the Kats couldn't score again, only getting off three shots in the final three minutes.

 “We have a lot of high-character guys,” said head coach Jason Hooten. “We fight. That's what we do. We just have to find a way to win these kind of games.”

The two free throws for Henderson at the end of the game were also the only two Sam Houston made all night, finishing just 2-of-8 from the stripe.

Henderson led the Kats with 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting, including the last five points of the game for the Kats. Josh Delaney added 11, including  hitting 3 from long range. However, no one else for the Kats finished in double figures, as they were limited to just 35 percent shooting from the field.

Defensively, the Kats played one of their best games of the season. They limited the Islanders (17-5, 8-2) to 29 points below their scoring average in Southland Conference play and kept their shooting below 35 percent.

“This was a good basketball game with two good teams,” Hooten said. “It was a defensive battle. It was a tough, grind-it-out battle and we just didn't get the shots at the end that we needed.”

The Kats will now return to Johnson Coliseum for the first time since Jan. 25 when they will host the second-play Houston Baptist Huskies.