HUNTSVILLE — The Bearkats avenged an early Western Athletic Conference loss to Southern Utah on Saturday at Johnson Coliseum.
Sam Houston wore down the Thunderbirds with lockdown defense en route to a 64-57 victory to improve to 22-6 overall and remain in second place in the WAC with a 12-4 record.
The game was close for most of the time before the Kats made their move midway through the fourth quarter.
It was 37-35 when
Qua Grant, who scored a game high 22 points, completed an old-fashioned three-point play when he was fouled on a layup. Grant did it again a minute later to put Sam Houston up 43-35.
Southern Utah (19-10, 11-5) answered with a 3, but
Lamar Wilkerson, who was clutch off the bench with 15 points, buried a 3 to match it. The Kats' largest lead came at 54-42 when
Cameron Huefner knocked down a pair of free throws and
Kaosi Ezeagu threw down a two-handed dunk off an assist from Grant with 4:13 to go in the game.
The Thunderbirds cut it to 61-57 with 29 seconds left, but
Tristan Ikpe connected on a pair of free throws, and Grant hit one with 10 seconds left to seal it.
Sam Houston has a big road matchup with rival Stephen F. Austin on Wednesday at William R. Johnson Coliseum at 6:30 p.m.
