CHICAGO — Sam Houston came out swinging in the first half to put away Chicago State in a 72-69 victory at the Jones Convocation Center on Saturday.
The Bearkats jumped out to an 8-0 lead thanks to a pair of 3-point shots by
Demarkus Lampley and never looked back to improve to 15-11 overall and 10-3 in WAC play. The Cougars dropped to 6-19 and 2-10 in league action.
Lampley led Sam Houston with 18 points on 5 for 7 shooting from long range.
Savion Flagg posted a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds, reaching double figures in scoring in his 25
th consecutive game which is the longest active streak in the nation.
The Kats led by 13 at the half thanks to an 8-2 run to close the period.
Kian Scroggins hit a jumper and Lampley buried a 3 before
Jaden Ray, who finished with nine points and six assists, completed a three-point play in the final seconds to make it 39-26.
Lampley picked up where he left off by knocking down a 3 for Sam Houston's first basket of the second half. Flagg followed with a deep ball of his own, and
Tristan Ikpe, who scored seven, made a free throw to push the lead to 17.
The Bearkats led by as many as 22 twice in the final period, the first coming on a 3 by
Donte Powers and the latter on a layup by
Javion May that made it 69-47 with 6:29 to go in the game.
Sam Houston shot 45 percent from the floor and a blistering 50 percent from behind the arc while holding Chicago State to 34 percent shooting and 24 percent from 3-point range.
