EL PASO — Bradley opened up a 20-point lead to begin the second half to hand Sam Houston a 87-61 loss at the Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational at the Don Haskins Center on Tuesday.
 
Savion Flagg led the Bearkats (4-8) with 16 points, and Tristan Ikpe scored 10. Javon Grant and Javion May each chipped in nine points in the loss.
 
The Braves (6-6) led by 11 at halftime and picked up where they left off to begin the second half. Bradley used a 12-5 run to take a 20-point lead and never looked back.
 
The Braves shot 54.9 percent from the floor while holding Sam Houston to just 39.3 percent shooting. Bradley also outshot the Kats from behind the arc, hitting 11 of 27, or 40.7 percent, of its 3-pointers as SHSU managed to go 5 for 21, or 23.8 percent.
 
The Bearkats fell behind early and pulled within one in the opening period when Flagg and Ikpe scored on consecutive possessions to make it 13-12 near the midway point. Sam Houston eventually tied the game at 16 on a jumper by Kuba Karwowski.
 
The Braves answered with a 5-0, but the Kats cut it back down to a one-point advantage thanks to Javon Grant. He scored on a layup then came up with a steal he took all the way to the basket to trim the lead to 21-20 with just under seven minutes to go.
 
Bradley outscored Sam Houston 19-8 the rest of the way to go into the half up 39-28.