MIAMI — FIU made the plays down the stretch when it mattered, and Sam Houston couldn't find a way to match it in an 85-82 overtime loss at the Ocean Bank Convocation Center on Thursday evening.
It was the second time in a week and third time this season the Bearkats (8-15 overall, 1-9 CUSA) lost in overtime in league play with the other two coming on the road as well at Louisiana Tech this past Saturday and at Kennesaw State on Jan. 16.
Lamar Wilkerson led the Kats with 21 points, 13 coming in the second half, and
Josiah Hammons had 18 points on 6 for 9 shooting from 3-point range.
Kalifa Sakho had 12 points, and
Marcus Boykin, who made the basket to force overtime, finished with 11 along with
Cameron Huefner, who fouled out.
Sam Houston came out firing to begin the second half when Wilkerson drilled a 3 and Hammons followed with his fifth of the contest for a seven-point lead. But the Kats gave up a three-point play then a basket from behind the arc to give up the lead for the first time in the game at 46-45 thanks in large part to a five-minute scoring drought.
The Bearkats kept fighting as they have all season and got four consecutive free throws by Huefner and
Dorian Finister to begin to chip away at an eight-point deficit. Nifty ball movement around the perimeter led to Hammons finding Boykin under the basket as he was able to convert a three-point play of his own to trim it to a one-point game.
A few clicks of the clock later, Sakho put one through the hoop to put Sam Houston back on top 58-57. The Panthers were the ones to answer again this time around, going back up 65-62.
A layup by Sakho and another 3 from Hammons put the Bearkats up two with 4:27 left on the clock. It was back and forth the rest of the way with FIU taking a two-point lead late only to see Boykin score in the final seconds to force overtime.
The Panthers grabbed the quick lead to start the extra period and held off the Kats the rest of the way.
Sam Houston was in control for most of the first half, building a lead as large as 10 thanks for some hot 3-point shooting by Hammons, who made four from behind the arc in the first 20 minutes.
Boykin made a pair of free throws to make it 36-29 with just over three minutes to go before the break. Hammons then drilled a 3 to give Sam Houston a double-digit advantage, but the scrappy Panthers clawed back thanks to a 9-0 run to make it a one-point game at halftime.
The Bearkats head north to face Liberty on Saturday at 3 p.m. CST. The game is scheduled to air on ESPNEWS and will be streamed audio only on BSN.
