JACKSONVILLE, Ala. — A rough patch in the road in the second half proved to be the difference as Sam Houston dropped another close game on the road in a 70-62 loss to Jax State at the Pete Matthews Coliseum on Saturday.
The Bearkats fell to 8-11 on the season and 1-5 in Conference USA play with a road heavy schedule to begin league play.
Josiah Hammons scored a team-high 20 points, while
Cameron Huefner added 13 and
Lamar Wilkerson chipped in 12.
Jax State answered the bell to begin the second half and erased a six-point lead by Sam Houston to go up 40-39.
Kalifa Sakho threw down a dunk to retake the lead, and it was a dogfight from there.
The Gamecocks began to pull away late as the Kats could not find a basket to answer. A 6-0 run with five minutes left in the game put Jax State up 54-47.
Sam Houston kept battling as Hammons and Wilkerson made it interesting with 3s down the stretch, but the Gamecocks closed it out at the line.
The opposite happened in the first half for the Kats. Key shots fell and the bounces went Sam Houston's way.
The Bearkats went the first six minutes of the game without a basket until Hammons finally drilled a 3-pointer from the right corner. Sam Houston had been playing solid defense, so Jax State was only leading 5-3 at that point.
Hammons quickly erased that deficit on the next trip down the floor. He knocked down his second consecutive 3 for a 6-5 lead at the 13:20 mark.
Lamar Wilkerson, who finished with nine points, and
Brennen Burns both scored back-to back baskets, Burns coming off his own steal to give the Kats a little cushion. Wilkerson laid a shot in off the glass, and Huefner split a pair of free throws and drained a 3 to give Sam Houston a 19-10 lead midway through the period.
Hammons and Huefner both hit 3s to push the lead to 10 late in the half, but the Gamecocks took advantage of some calls that went their way to pull within three points. Hammons delivered again as the final seconds ticked off to bury his fourth 3 of the half to send the Kats into the break with a 32-26 lead.
Sam Houston returns to Huntsville for a two-game stretch beginning with Middle Tennessee on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
