HUNTSVILLE, Texas – HBU had four players score in double figures but Sam Houston State's 8-0 run early in the second half propelled the Bearkats to an 81-63 win over the Huskies in Southland Conference basketball Saturday afternoon at Johnson Coliseum.
 
Sophomore guard Rob Lewis led HBU (4-18, 1-9 SLC) with 13 points off the bench, while freshman forward Colter Lasher scored a career-high 12 points. Sophomore forward Cody Joyce and junior center Ricmonds Vilde had 11 points each, with Vilde adding a team-leading seven rebounds. Freshman guard Jimmy Barton dished out a career-high seven assists for the Huskies.
 
Jabari Peters, James Thomas and Michael Holyfield each had 14 points for SHSU (16-6, 8-2). Kaheem Ransom had 13 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds. Holyfield led the Bearkats with 10 rebounds.
 
SHSU shot 51 percent from the field for the game, 8-for-23 from 3-point range, and 15-of-24 from the free throw line. HBU shot 42 percent, 5-for-13 from behind the arc, and 12-for-17 from the stripe. The Bearkats outrebounded the Huskies, 35-34.
 
Lasher opened the game with a three for the Huskies, but Thomas answered with a jumper in the lane for the Bearkats. Barton found Joyce cutting through the lane for a layup with the shot clock winding down, then after a Bearkats miss, Lasher raced up court for a basket to put HBU up 7-2 with 17:48 left. Ransom made short jumper in the lane, then Holyfield sank two free throws to cut the Huskies' lead to one, but Joyce took a feed from Barton and went up-and-under for layup, then Lasher drove in for another score to make the score 11-6.
 
Thomas got inside and Paul Baxter made one-of-two at the free throw line for SHSU, but Russell banked in a runner for HBU. Peters hit a three to once again get the Bearkats within one, but Lewis pulled up and banked a 10-footer off the glass. Terrance Motley responded with a drive inside, the Bond made a pair of free throws with 11:31 to go to give the Bearkats their first lead of the game. Ransom sidestepped a defender for a layup to put SHSU up by three, by Joyce tipped in a Lasher miss.
 
Nathaniel Mason hit a long jumper, then Ransom made a three to extend the Bearkats' advantage to six, but Lasher made another layup for the Huskies. Dakarai Henderson made a 17-footer for SHSU, but Joyce converted a three-point play, Lewis buried a three to tie it, then Turner regained the lead for the Huskies with a triple with 6:07 remaining. Holyfield ended HBU's run with two free throws, but Lasher banked in a three to put the Huskies ahead, 31-27. Peters answered with a trey and Holyfield put the Bearkats back up by one with a layup, but missed the free throw that followed. Freshman center Cody Stetler tied it with a free throw, but Aurimas Majauskas hit a jumper from the block, Baxter made a three and Majauskas knocked down a pair of free throws as the Bearkats went up, 39-32. Junior guard Tyler Russell found Joyce underneath for a layup with 15 seconds left to cut the Huskies' deficit to five at the break.
 
HBU shot 56 percent in the first half, including 4-of-8 from long distance, but only 2-of-5 from the line. SHSU shot 50 percent, 4-of-11 from the 3-point range, and 9-for-12 from the free throw line. The Huskies outrebounded the Bearkats, 14-13, in the opening frame. Lasher led HBU with 12 and Joyce added 11, while Ransom had seven and Peters and Holyfield had six each for SHSU.
 
Barton followed his own miss and made the putback on the Huskies' first possession of the second half, but Ransom got a fast-break layup, Thomas banked in a layup, Baxter made a three and Thomas hit one-of-two at the line to put the Bearkats ahead by 11. Lewis ended the spurt with a pull-up jumper, but SHSU responded and took a 54-38 lead with 13:55 remaining.
 
HBU kept fighting back, starting with a 3-pointer by Vilde, then his three-point play, followed by a pair of Lewis free throws, made the score 61-54 with 8:51 left. That would be the closest the Huskies would get the rest of the way.   
 
The Huskies return to action when they face Abilene Christian Thursday in Abilene, followed by Incarnate Word Saturday in San Antonio. HBU will be home for six of its last seven after the road trip.