Box Score
HOUSTON – Christopher Galbreath Jr. dropped a career-high 33 points to help erase a 14-point Houston Baptist lead as Sam Houston State picked up the win at Sharp Gym 86-78 Saturday night.
Galbreath's 33 points were the most points by a Bearkat since since Gilberto Clavell had 34 at Auburn in 2009. Galbreath also added 14 rebounds to register his league-leading 11th double-double.
Sam Houston (17-11, 11-4 SLC) also secured a berth in the Southland Conference Tournament berth with the eight-point victory over Houston Baptist (6-21, 2-12 SLC) as they fell just short of the upset.
Josh Delaney was the only other Kat in double-digits with 14 points on 3-6 shooting from deep. Abrian Edwards added nine points to go along with a career-high eight of the Kats' 19 assists.
Houston Baptist was led by David Caraher who scored 25 points off of 7-14 shooting. Braxton Bonds added six points for the Huskies to go along with Ian DuBose's 13 points and eight boards.
UP NEXT
Sam Houston will head back home to face off against New Orleans as they look to climb up the Southland Conference ranks before the tournament in March in Katy.
HOW IT HAPPENED IN THE FIRST HALF
Galbreath started his career night off fast as he nailed his first two attempts from the field to give the Kats the early advantage, but a 10-4 run would give the Huskies the 14-8 lead with 15:19 to go after DuBose knocked down both attempts from the line.
The Huskies kept up their early momentum as they stretched the lead all the way to double digits after a Jalon Gates triple gave Houston Baptist a 24-13 lead with 11 minutes remaining.
The Huskies enjoyed a double-digit lead for the remainder of the first half pulling ahead by as much as 14 after a Houston Baptist triple with a little over three minutes remaining before the break. The Bearkats used a six-point run in the final 30 seconds to close out the half to shave the lead down to single digits as time expired capped off by a Devin Jackson triple off the Dewey inbound as time expired.
Houston Baptist was propelled to their early double-digit lead thanks to a 53.3 percent mark from the field in the first half compared to the Bearkat's 45.2 percent clip. The Bearkats committed an uncharacteristic nine first half turnovers compared to Houston Baptist's six. Galbreath was the early catalyst for Sam Houston as he provided nearly half of the Bearkats 36 first-half points with 15 of his own to go along with eight rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED IN THE SECOND HALF
Sam Houston came out of the gates fast as they scored the first four points in only 46 seconds to draw within four as they forced an early Houston Baptist timeout. However, the Huskies would respond with a six-point run to push the lead back to eight with 16 minutes remaining.
Galbreath and Josh Delaney would then combine for the next 10 Sam Houston points as they used a 10-2 run to tie the game at 55 with 11:38 to go. The Bearkats took advantage of the momentum and would pull ahead by three after Jamal Williams took the rebound to the other end for the fast-break layup to lead 61-58 with less than 10 minutes to go.
Houston Baptist wouldn't go quietly as they fought back to take the lead 70-69 after Caraher layed it in with 5:44 to go. Galbreath and Edwards would then go on to score the next eight Sam Houston points to propel the Kats to a 77-73 lead.
After Houston Baptist pulled within one with 1:52 to go Marcus Harris iced the game with two huge trifectas to push the lead to 83-76 in favor of Sam Houston with 50 ticks remaining. Houston Baptist would hit a jumper to pull back to within five but couldn't get anything else to fall and three more Sam Houston free throws pushed the lead to 86-78 as time expired.
Sam Houston showed a huge post presence as they bullied the Huskies in the paint 38-26, Sam Houston also flipped the script and committed only five second half turnovers to finish with 14. The Kats used a 53.1 percent second half mark from the field to complete the comeback in a game where they were down by as much as 14.
