Dakarai Henderson came off the bench to score the game-winning lay-up with two seconds left as Sam Houston moved on to the quarterfinals of the Southland Conference Tournament with a 60-59 victory over No. 7 seed Nicholls Thursday.
The Bearkats will take on No. 2 seed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at the Leonard E. Merrell Center Friday at 7:30 p.m.
“Jamal (Williams) made a perfect pass,” Henderson said. “We've been in a position several times this year where we needed a buzzer beater to win and didn't get it. It feels great to pull this one out.”
Up by six points, 48-42 with 8:42 to play, Sam Houston saw Nicholls roar back to take a 59-58 lead with eight seconds to play on a three-pointer from 35 feet by T. J. Carpenter. The Colonels held a three-point lead, 56-53 on two free throws by Liam Thomas with 1:32 left.
Albert Almanza tied the contest 56-56 with a three-pointer with 1:14 left. Aurimas Majauskas, who led Sam Houston with 16 points, gave the Kats a 58-56 lead by hitting a jumper with 17 seconds on the clock.
“Coming into this game, we thought it would be a tough one just like this,” Sam Houston head coach Jason Hooten said. “It's tournament time and the records don't matter. We knew it would be a grind it out type game and that's exactly what it was. No one deserved to lose this one tonight. The two teams both fought really hard.”
Besides assisting on the game-winning basket, Williams also made a big rebound after a missed jumper by the Colonels with 42 seconds left that set up Majauskas' basket.
"There's a reason why Aurimas and Dakarai were second team All-Southland players this year," Hooten said. "They showed why tonight.”
Torry Butler scored 12 points and had 10 rebounds and Williams added 10 points for the Bearkats. Sam Houston takes an 18-14 record into Friday's game with the Islanders.
Quinton Thomas led the Colonels with 12 points. The Colonels finished the year 11-23.
With three-point baskets by Williams and Majauskas in the opening two-and-a-half minutes, Sam Houston jumped out to a quick 11-2 lead. But the Colonels charged back, taking their only lead of the opening 20 minutes, 23-22, on a jumper by Adam Ward with 6:43 in the half.
The Kats ended the period with a 16-11 run to go into the locker room leading 38-34 at intermission. Both teams shot well in the first half with the Sam men hitting 12-of-24 for 50 percent shooting while Nicholls knocked down 13-of-22 for 56 percent.
The two teams started the second half combining for 12 consecutive missed shots. Sam Houston did not score for the first six-and-a-half minutes as Nicholls cut the margin to 41-37 on a basket by Kyle Caudell at the 13:50 mark.
A three-pointer from the corner by Henderson started a 9-3 run that put the Kats back in charge 48-42 just past the midway point of the second half.
The Colonels charged again, going on a 14-5 run to go up 56-53 with 1:27 to play after a pair of free throws by Liam Thomas.
Sam Houston ended the night hitting 39.2 percent from the field (20-of-51) after going only 8-of-28 in the final 20 minutes.
“We've lost twice to A&M-Corpus Christi by three and five points,” Hooten said. “It's going to be another tough game tomorrow night. They have a very good team and we'll have to fight just as hard to beat them.”
