HUNTSVILLE – The Sam Houston State Bearkats led by as much as 16 points, but had to withstand a late comeback from Southeastern Louisiana to pull out its seventh straight victory, 71-69, on Saturday night over the Lions at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum.

The win, coupled with a loss by New Orleans at Stephen F. Austin earlier in the evening puts the Kats (16-6, 7-2 SLC) in a tie with the Privateers for first place in the Southland Conference standings at the midway point of the league slate.

Four Bearkats finished in double figures, led by 16 points from Aurimas Majauskas. Sam Houston needed all of that offense, including hitting seven shots from beyond the arc, to keep the Lions at bay. Southeastern was led by guard Davon Hayes, who nailed seven triples of his own on his way to a game-high 23 points.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Sam Houston trailed by as much as five points in the early going after the Lions started off hot from the floor. Southeastern held a 22-19 lead as late as the 5:46 mark of the half before Cameron Delaney tied it up with the first of his two threes in the half, igniting an 18-3 run for the Kats to end the period.

That run included buckets from five players, including a pair of floaters in the midst of the Lion zone by Dakarai Henderson to cap the run and send the Kats to the locker room up 37-25 after shooting 46.9 percent from the field in the half.

John Dewey III would get a steal and score on the opening inbounds of the second half and Sam Houston would score on six of its first seven possessions, but Southeastern stayed right with them behind the long ball from Hayes who canned threes on three straight trips down the floor in the opening three minutes.

A layup from Torry Butler, who also had a career-best four blocks in the game, upped the lead to its peak at the 12:20 mark of the second half with a 56-40 margin, but it took the Lions less than two minutes to cut that lead back down to just 10 points.

Southeastern hit seven of its 10 threes in the second half and hit 53.6 percent from the floor in chipping away at the Bearkat lead, getting as close as five points after scores from Marlain Veal and Eddy Polanco before Paul Baxter pushed it back to eight with a three-point play with just 5:31 to play.

Majauskas kept the lead at 67-58 with a fall-away jumper with just under four minutes to go, but that would be the last field goal the Kats would get on the night. Instead, they had to do their damage at the foul line the remainder of the way, doing just enough to keep the Lions at arm's length. Hayes was once again the comeback culprit in the final 90 seconds, hitting his sixth three of the game to get things to 69-65, but could not connect on a possible game-tying try from the left corner with less than 10 seconds to play.

PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Majauskas hit seven of his nine tries from the floor to finish with a team-high 16 points, but he was joined in double-figures by three more Kats. Dewey hit a pair of triples and dished out six assists to go with 15 points reaching double figures for the third straight game. Henderson finished with 11 points and Baxter with 10 to go with three steals. Butler also put together a strong night across the board, totaling seven points to go with six rebounds and a career-high four blocks.

KEY STAT
The Bearkats did much of their damage in the paint on the night, outscoring the Lions 26-16 within the painted area. They also finished with 10 blocked shots, their most since rejecting 10 vs Austin College on Nov. 14, 2014.

UP NEXT
Sam Houston will close out its four-game homestand on Thursday when it hosts rival Stephen F. Austin. The Lumberjacks, who have claimed each of the past four league crowns, pulled to within a game of the Kats and UNO with a 10-point win over the Privateers on Saturday evening in Nacogdoches. The game will be aired on the American Sports Network.