WILMINGTON, N.C. — As quickly as Sam Houston's offense appeared, it disappeared in a 69-60 loss to host UNCW at the Live Oak Bank Holiday Classic on Friday at Trask Coliseum.
The short-handed Bearkats (3-4), who were without starting point guard
Marcus Boykin, never looked comfortable on the offensive end of the court after the first few minutes of the game. Sam Houston shot just 30 percent which never allowed it to overcome an early double-digit deficit.
The Seahawks shot the ball well on their home court, especially from long range. UNCW was 10 for 27 from behind the arc which allowed them to keep Sam Houston at a distance throughout the contest.
Lamar Wilkerson led all scorers with 20 points, and
Cameron Huefner chipped in 11.
Erik Taylor provided a spark off the bench with a career-high 10 points.
Down 13 at the break, the Kats opened the second half on a 5-0 run to pull within 33-25. The Seahawks come storming back and pushed the led to as many as 50-31 at the 12:48 mark.
Erik Taylor knocked down a 3 at the top of the key to cut the lead to single digits at 56-47 with seven and a half minutes left in the game. UNCW, however, kept its hot shooting hand and popped two more 3s to push the lead back to 12.
It was almost a mirror image of how the game began.
Wilkerson scored the first 13 points for the Bearkats, including three consecutive 3-pointers to build a 13-6 lead right out of the gate. The Seahawks started shipping away and eventually retook the lead at 19-15.
The game took an unfortunate turn from there.
Like flipping off a light switch, Sam Houston went cold. UNCW answered with a 21-2 run to go up 27-15. The Bearkats went more than seven minutes without scoring during that time.
Wilkerson finally stopped the scoring drought when he buried his fourth 3 of the half to cut the lead to 27-18 with just under four minutes to go in the period. The Seahawks were able to use a 6-2 run to push the lead back to double figures at the half.
The Bearkats will look to close out the event with a win over Colgate when the two teams meet in the finale Saturday at 11 a.m.
