BATON ROUGE, La. — The Sam Houston State men's basketball team hung around for most of the game, but LSU pulled away late to pick up an 88-66 victory at the Maravich Center Monday.
After trailing 41-23 in the first half, the Bearkats (3-4) used a 12-0 run with under four minutes to play in the opening period to cut the lead to six thanks to baskets by senior
Demarkus Lampley and juniors
Zach Nutall and
Tristan Ikpe. The Tigers (4-1) pushed the lead back to 10, but Nutall hit a pair of free throws to send SHSU into the break down 45-37.
"I thought we did a good job of getting the ball from side to side and getting the ball to the lane, whether it was scoring or kicking it," head coach
Jason Hooten said about the team's run in the first half. "We have some guys that can make shots for sure, and we got going in a rhythm to where we made a few 3s, but we only made two 3s in the second half, and we were wide open. If we make eight or five in the second half, then we have a chance to win the game."
The Kats got as close as five twice in the second half, the latter coming on a layup by junior
Manny Crump at the 18:40 mark. LSU responded with three consecutive 3-pointers to go back up double figures at 56-42.
Sam Houston got as close as eight at 70-62 on two free throws by junior
Javion May with less than five minutes left in the game, but the Tigers closed the contest on an 18-4 run to seal the victory.
Lampley led the Bearkats with 16 points, and Nutall chipped in 13. Freshman
Jarren Cook and May each scored nine.
"I thought with about six or seven minutes to go we were right there," Hooten said. "Then it was very disappointing how we played the last six or seven minutes of the game. I think they had 68 at the seven-minute (to go) mark and ended with 88, so we gave them 20 points in six minutes and that's just unacceptable. Disappointed. We've got to learn. We have nine new players, and we've got to learn how to fight through adversity. We have to learn how to fight through the finish."
The Bearkats stay on the road to travel to Austin to face Texas on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The game will be televised on the Longhorn Network.
