HUNTSVILLE — If winning is contagious, the Bearkats have caught something.
The breaks seem to finally be going Sam Houston's way following a nail-biting 78-76 Conference USA victory over a stubborn Kennesaw State team on Saturday at Johnson Coliseum. After losing seven straight, the Bearkats (10-16, 3-10) have now won two games in a row after upsetting league-leading Jax State 66-61 on Thursday evening.
The Kats saw a 20-point halftime lead become a one-point deficit when the Owls (15-11, 7-6) drilled a 3-pointer to take the lead at 76-75 with two minutes left in the game. Defense took over, but senior
Marcus Boykin made the play of the day when he connected on a mid-range jumper a minute later to put Sam Houston up for good.
Lamar Wilkerson, who had another monster game with 25 points, made one of two free throws in the closing seconds as a decent look at a 3 by KSU at the buzzer was long. The crowd let out a collective sigh as the shot missed to seal the victory.
Boykin finished with 11 points, and
Cameron Huefner scored 22, 11 coming at the free throw line.
Josiah Hammons had 10 points, and
Brennen Burns had six.
The Bearkats looked like they would run away with it in the first half, using a 14-0 run to take a 41-26 lead before the Owls finally scored. A 3 by Wilkerson with under 50 seconds to go in the period sent Sam Houston into the break on top 48-28.
Kennesaw State wouldn't go away, eventually coming back to tie it at 63 at the 6:36 mark of the second half. Hammons answered with a jumper, and it was a fight to the buzzer from there.
Sam Houston will hit the road looking for its first conference win away from Huntsville when the Bearkats travel to Bowling Green to face Western Kentucky on Feb. 20 at 8 p.m.
