HUNTSVILLE — Sam Houston did not full around this time around.
The Bearkats took care of business in the second half to avenge an earlier loss to FIU with a 70-56 victory at Johnson Coliseum on Thursday evening. Sam Houston remains in first place in Conference USA with a 7-3 record and improved to 14-11 overall.
When the Kats and Golden Panthers played in Miami two weeks ago, Sam Houston saw an 11-point halftime lead deteriorate in the final 20 minutes in a 68-61 loss.
The second half was more friendly to the Bearkats on Thursday as they snapped a two-game losing streak.
Sam Houston led by 10 after the first half and kept pouring it on after the break.
Lamar Wilkerson, who scored a team-high 14 points, drilled a 3-pointer to make it 49-35 before
Marcus Boykin followed with one of his own at the 14:43 mark.
FIU fought back from as many as 21 down, to trim the lead to 10.
Jaden Ray made a pair of free throws, and
Kian Scroggins scored to push the lead back to 14 as Sam Houston coasted the rest of the way.
Boykin finished with nine points while
Cameron Huefner,
Davon Barnes,
Owen McGlashan and Ray all added eight.
Souleymane Doumbia had a team high eight boards, and Scroggins and Huefner each had seven.
The game was a slug fest in the early going as FIU was the first to strike, building a quick 9-2 lead in the first half.
Sam Houston finally started to settle in thanks to a 5-0 run. Barnes scored the first basket and Boykin knock in a 3 to give the Kats their first lead at 17-16 at the 12:24 mark.
The Golden Panthers momentarily retook the lead, but Wilkerson connected from behind the arc then made a jumper to make it 22-18. Scroggins would throw down a dunk, and McGlashan made three free throws after being fouled on a 3-point attempt.
Sam Houston led by 11 twice, with the later coming thanks to a 6-1 run on back-to-back layups by Wilkerson and
Jaden Ray and a pair of free throws by Huefner to push the lead to 37-26.
FIU hit a 3 to cut the lead to eight, but Ray laid a shot in at the buzzer to give the Bearkats a 39-29 advantage going into the half.
Sam Houston is back in action Saturday when Liberty comes to Johnson Coliseum for a 6:30 p.m. tip.
