EL PASO — Sam Houston jumped out to an early lead and never looked back to close the Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational with as 68-51 victory over North Carolina Central on Wednesday.
 
Savion Flagg led the Bearkats (5-8) with 17 points and eight rebounds. Jaden Ray added 13 points and seven assists while Kian Scroggins added 10 points off the bench.
 
Sam Houston led by as many as 24 points in the second half when Ray connected on a 3-pointer and Flagg scored on a tip-in with just over 17 minutes left in the game.
 
NCCU (6-9) answered with a 12-0 run to cut the lead to 12, but the Bearkats came roaring back with a 10-3 run to go up 57-38 to put the game out of reach with less than eight minutes to play.
 
The Eagles scored the first basket of the game, but Sam Houston took over from there.
 
The Bearkats took the lead on a layup by Tristan Ikpem who scored seven points, and a 3-pointer by Flagg. Sam Houston never trailed in the first half again.
 
Javion May laid one off the glass, and Donte Powers knocked down a 3 as the Kats began to open it up at 19-11 with 7:34 to go in the half. Jarren Cook drilled a 3 to put SHSU on top by double digits two minutes later.
 
Ray and Damon Nicholas Jr. sparked a 12-2 run to close out the half by each hitting a 3 and a pair of free throws. Flagg made it 36-21 in the closing seconds with a layup.
 
The Bearkats rebounded from a poor shooting performance in a loss to Bradley on Tuesday by hitting 47 percent from the field and 44 percent from 3. Sam Houston also outrebounded NCCU 38-27.