LAS VEGAS — Sam Houston came up on the wrong end of a nail biter in a 71-66 loss to Grand Canyon in the second round of the WAC Tournament at Orleans Arena on Thursday evening.
The fifth-seeded Bearkats (19-14) trailed 61-58 with less than two minutes to go when
Donte Powers hit a clutch 3-pointer while getting fouled to tie it. He knocked down the free throw to give Sam Houston the lead.
The fourth-seeded Antelopes (23-7) were able to put the game out of reach with an 8-2 run to advance to the semifinals Friday to play top-seeded New Mexico.
Savion Flagg led the Kats with 20 points, and
Demarkus Lampley went 4 for 5 from 3-point range to finish with 17 points.
Tristan Ikpe added 10 points, and
Jaden Ray chipped in nine.
The game was a slug fest from the beginning with both teams trading baskets for the first few minutes. Grand Canyon took its biggest lead of the half on a 3-pointer that made it 14-11 with 12:44 to play in the opening half.
The Bearkats came storming back. Lampley was fouled on a 3-point attempt and knocked down all three free throws to tie. That ignited an 11-0 run by Sam Houston.
Flagg followed with a 3 then it was Lampley connecting from long range. Flagg capped the run with a layup to make it 22-14.
Powers hit a pair of free throws and Flagg scored again to give the Kats their biggest lead of the first half at 26-16 with just under six minutes to go, but the Antelopes end the half on a 13-4 run to close the gap at the break.
