HOUSTON — The Sam Houston men's basketball team used two big runs to begin each half to cruise to an 83-70 victory over Houston Baptist at Sharp Gym on Monday.
 
Senior Demarkus Lampley led the Bearkats (18-7, 12-2 in SLC) with 19 points, including a pair of 4-point plays. Junior Donte Powers added 13 points, junior Tristan Ikpe 11, freshman Bryce Monroe 11 and junior Zach Nutall 10 to give Sam Houston five players in double figures, and junior Javion May just missed a double-double with seven points and eight rebounds.
 
The Bearkats went on double-digit runs to begin both halves to put the game away early.
 
Up 14 at the half, Sam Houston scored 10 straight points in the first few minutes of the second period to take a 54-30 lead after Nutall threw down a dunk at the 16:40 mark. The Kats' biggest lead came at 59-32 when Lampley hit one of his four 3-point baskets less than a minute later.
 
Sam Houston shot an efficient 48.5 percent from the field and scored 16 points off 14 HBU turnovers.
 
The Bearkats raced out to a double-digit lead early in the first half thanks to an 11-0 run. Powers scored seven points during that stretch, including a 3-pointer that made it 12-2.
 
Sam Houston started to pour it on from there. The Kats turned it into a 27-4 run to take a 28-6 lead midway through the period when Monroe knocked down a jumper.
 
SHSU's biggest lead of the half was 23 points at 33-10 when freshman Jarren Cook drilled a 3 from the right corner at the 8:40 mark.
 
The Huskies (4-17, 3-10) responded and went on a 20-11 to pull with 41-30, but Lampley buried a 3 at the buzzer to send the Bearkats into the break up 14.
 
Sam Houston will host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at Johnson Coliseum on Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m.