Box Score
NATCHITOCHES, La. – Paul Baxter poured in a career-high 23 points and the Sam Houston State Bearkats won their fourth game in a row, 77-68, behind a season-high 11 3-point baskets over Northwestern State on Saturday afternoon at Prather Coliseum.
The Bearkats (13-6, 4-2 SLC) moved to just a half game back of league-leading New Orleans with the win and did so behind a career-night from Baxter. The fifth-year senior hit a trio of threes and connected on all eight foul shots for his 23 points as one of three Kats to reach double figures.
Sam Houston led by as much as 16 points in the second half before a furious Demon (7-9, 1-4 SLC) comeback saw them draw back to within three points in the game's final minute before the Kats got the stops and made the foul shots they needed to walk away with the win.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Sam Houston hit each of its first five shots from the field, including threes from Baxter and Majauskas, in racing out to a 14-5 lead before the game's first media timeout. Two scores from Galbreath had the lead at 18-7 before a 11-0 Demon run that included a three from Sabri Thompson brought them all the way back to an 18-18 tie before a three ball from Josh Delaney put the Kats back in front.
The Demons kept launching from distance and had it tied back up at 21-21 before five straight points from Baxter, including his second three-ball of the half. That sparked a 13-4 run that ended on a three from Dakarai Henderson from the right corner to make it 34-27 with four minutes left in the half, tying him with Jeremy Burkhalter for the most three-pointers in program history.
The Bearkat offense finished with seven threes in the first half, tying its highest first-half output of the year and got 13 points from Baxter and eight assists from John Dewey III in taking a 39-32 lead into the break.
Baxter and Henderson got going early in the second half, both reaching milestones early in the period. Baxter connected on four quick points, reaching the 1,000-point scoring mark for his career with a layup on Sam's second possession, and one trip down the floor later Henderson drained a three from the right corner to take sole possession mark for the most 3-point field goals in program history.
That surge helped the Kats build the lead up to a 13-point advantage less than four minutes in before the Demons trimmed it back to six at 52-46. But Baxter had the answer again, driving for an emphatic one-handed slam to equal his career high of 19 points with just under 10 minutes to play.
The Kats then turned back to Majauskas who connected three straight times from the block before another three from Henderson free throws from Dewey stretched the lead back to its peak at 67-52 as part of a 9-2 run. The Demons then went on a run of their own with nine straight points and got it down to a 68-63 lead on a layup from Josh Boyd with 1:56 to go, but Henderson answered with his biggest shot of the night with 90 seconds to go as he pushed the lead back to 71-63 on a three from the left wing.
Five straight Demon points, including another three from Thompson cut the lead to just 71-68 with 40 seconds on the clock, but the Kats made all six of their foul shots in the final 23 seconds of the game to close it out.
KEY STATS
Sam Houston drained seven 3-point baskets in the first half and added four more in the second half, all from Henderson who was 4-for-5 from distance in the second period. That contradicted the Demons who were just 3-for-19 from beyond the 3-point arc.
The Kats were also 14-for-16 from the foul line compared to just 11-for-17 for the Demons.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Baxter hit three triples and went for 13 of his game-high 23 points in the opening half, hitting six of his 10 shots from the field for the game. He also added seven rebounds and four assists and held the Demons' leading scorer, Sabri Thompson to just eight points on 3-for-10 shooting only two nights after going for 38 points in Northwestern State's win over Nicholls.
RECORDS WATCH
Dakarai Henderson entered the night needing two threes to surpass Jeremy Burkhalter to become the all-time leader in three-point field goals made. He connected on one in the first half and hit the first of his four second-half threes early in the period to move past Burkhalter for the record which now stands at 213.
Baxter also reached a milestone of his own when he got a layup early in the second half, one possession before Henderson set his record. Baxter's 15th point gave him 1,000 career points making him the 25th Bearkat to ever reach the mark and the third this season, joining Henderson and Majauskas in that category.
UP NEXT
Sam Houston will open up a four-game homestand on Thursday when it hosts Lamar at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum. The Kats will follow that up with a Saturday meeting against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
