STEPHENVILLE — Sam Houston looked like a different team on the court at Wisdom Gym on Saturday night.
The team looked cohesive and played like a group as the Bearkats punished Tarleton 91-62 to pick up their first win of the season. Junior
Dorian Finister led Sam Houston with 17 points, and senior
Lamar Wilkerson was right behind him with 15 as four players scored in double figures including
Kian Scroggins with 14 and
Cameron Huefner chipped in 11.
The Bearkats started off sluggish again in the opening half much like the season opening 91-75 loss at Nevada on Monday that saw the Wolfpack jump out to a 15-2 lead. But this time, Sam Houston didn't let the deficit get that large.
Backup point guard
Brennen Burns, who scored seven, went on a 4-0 run with a jumper and a pair of free throws as the Bearkats came back to tie the game at 10. Guard
Josiah Hammons later converted a three-point play to give Sam Houston its first lead at 13-12 midway through the first.
Scroggins in the meantime was putting together a career first half. He scored 11 points off the bench to lead the Bearkats on a run to grab a 47-34 lead at the break as
Marcus Boykin and Burns also scored down the stretch.
The game started to get out of hand in a hurray in the second half as Sam Houston got off to a blistering pace, quickly extending the lead to 20 at 59-39 when
Lamar Wilkerson lobbed an alley-oop to
Kalifa Sakho for a two-hand dunk. Wilkerson and
Dorian Finister hit back-to-back 3s and just like that it was a runaway with 11 of the 12 players who saw action getting in on the scoring.
The Bearkats have a short turnaround before traveling to Waco to face No. 8 Baylor on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The game is set to be streamed on ESPN+.
