LAKE CHARLES, La. – The Sam Houston State Bearkats got their first win of Southland Conference play on Thursday, picking up a 74-67 win over McNeese at Burton Coliseum.

The Kats (10-6, 1-2 SLC) used an 8-0 run early in the second half to take the lead and never relinquished it in the final stanza, putting 11 players in the scoring column and holding McNeese (5-9, 2-1 SLC) to 29 percent shooting for the night.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Bearkats had to turn to their defense in the early going, holding the Cowboys to just one field goal in the opening four minutes despite starting the game 1-for-10 from the floor themselves. Still McNeese led by as much as eight just under five minutes into the game before Galbreath ignited a 9-0 Bearkat run with consecutive buckets at the rim before Josh Delaney connected on Sam's only three of the half to give the Kats their first lead at 17-15.

The teams went back and forth for the remainder of the half, doing their damage in different ways. The Cowboys connected on six of their 14 tries from beyond the arc, meanwhile the Kats were just 1-for-12 from distance but held an 18-0 advantage on points in the paint.

Sam Houston held its last lead of the half at 25-24 on the second of Torry Butler's two field goals of the half before McNeese went on an 8-2 spurt to retake a five-point lead before going into the half up 34-31.

But the Kats came out quick in the second period, scoring the first eight points of the half and going back in front on consecutive transition scores from Dakarai Henderson and a slam from Phillip Jones Jr.

That lead grew to as much as 11 after another 7-0 run over midway through the half on a pair of buckets from Dewey and a three-point play from Butler, who finished with a career-high 13 rebounds in the game.

Albert Almanza and Josh Delaney each canned big triples for the Kats in the second half, but it was the foul line where Sam Houston had to do work late in the half after the Cowboys got as close as five points on two straight threes from James Harvey. Still, the Kats managed to hit five foul shots in the final two minutes to hold McNeese at bay.

KEY STAT
McNeese entered the game averaging just 13.5 turnovers per game, but finished with 20 for the game, including 14 in the opening half. The Kats were able to overcome 4-for-23 shooting from three by dominating inside, owning a 38-8 advantage in the paint and a 19-7 advantage on the offensive glass and 51-35 in total rebounding.

PLAYERS OF THE GAME
The Kats saw 11 players crack the scoring column, but only Chris Galbreath made into double figures, finishing with his third double-double of the year with 10 points and 11 rebounds. John Dewey III just missed a double-double of his own with nine points and eight assists, while Torry Butler pulled down 13 rebounds of his own to go with eight points. Sam Houston only finished with four triples on the night, but got three of them from Delaney, including two key threes in the second half.  

UP NEXT
Sam Houston returns to Johnson Coliseum on Saturday evening to take on Nicholls. Tipoff scheduled for 6:15 pm and can be heard live on KSAM 101.7 FM.