HOUSTON — The Bearkats continued to scorch the nets en route to a 95-75 victory over Houston Baptist at Sharp Gym.

Sam Houston State knocked down 55 percent of its shots to improve to 6-2 in Southland Conference play and 13-6 overall. The win was the Bearkats' second in a row and capped a three-game conference road swing.

Sophomore Zach Nutall led SHSU with 23 points. Sophomores Dajuan Jones and Mark Tikhonenko each scored 13, which was a career high for Jones.
Junior Terryonte Thomas also scored a career-high 12 points, and sophomore Xavier Bryant gave the Kats five players in double-digit scoring with 11.

The Huskies (1-14, 1-4) scored the first four points of the game, but it was all SHSU after that. The Bearkats led for the final 39 minutes, holding HBU to 41 percent shooting from the floor and turned 19 turnovers into 20 points.

SHSU led by as many as 25 points at 89-64 with just under four minutes to play after a pair of free throws from Jones.

The Bearkats got off to a blistering start to build a double-digit lead in the first half by hitting 52 percent of their shots (18 for 34) to go into the break with their largest lead of the period at 13 points.

Nutall hit his second 3-pointer of the half to put SHSU up 44-33 with a minute left. Tikhonenko followed with a short jumper to send the Kats into halftime with a 46-33 advantage.

Sam Houston State set the tone defensively in the opening 20 minutes, holding the Huskies to 26.7 percent shooting from the field and 8.3 from behind the arc.
The Bearkats return home to host Abilene Christian Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.