By Cody Stark
Assistant Sports Editor
NATCHITOCHES, La. — When Sam Houston State senior Corey Allmond drained his first 3-point attempt Wednesday, the Demons from Northwestern State had to know it was going to be a long night.
Allmond led a first-half bombing barrage with four treys and junior Gilberto Clavell cleaned up on the inside as Sam Houston State rolled to a 103-75 victory Wednesday night at Prather Coliseum.
The Bearkats (14-1 in Southland play, 22-6 overall) hit nine 3s in the first 20 minutes to build a 57-35 lead at the break.
The Demons (5-10, 10-18), on the other hand, shot just 38 percent and were plagued with nine turnovers, eight of which were steals that SHSU turned into 11 points.
“We shot the ball well in the first half, but more importantly, our defense was good,” Kats head coach Bob Marlin said. “They shot 38 percent in the first half, then 38 in the second half. We gave them 38 percent for the game.”
Allmond finished with 24 points and jump-started a 26-12 run with a pair of 3s midway through the first half that helped the Bearkats blow the game open. Junior Lance Pevehouse, who just missed a double-double with nine points and 10 boards, and sophomore Drae Murray also buried treys during the stretch.
Junior Josten Crow, who added 15 points, scored seven unanswered and Murray swished his second 3 of the game to put SHSU up 37-22 with 8:11 to go before halftime.
“Everybody knows we can shoot the ball, going back to Kentucky and some of those games at home,” Allmond said. “But we have been preaching it all year that it is about how we defend people. People are going to get it going. It’s not offense, it is defense.
“What we do on defense is how far it is going to take us.”
Sam Houston cooled off from long range in the second half, but that didn’t keep the Bearkats from putting points on the board.
Clavell, who added 21 points and seven boards, senior Preston Brown (13 points), sophomore Marco Cooper (five points and eight rebounds) and Crow helped Sam Houston outscore the Demons 44-18 in the paint.
But it wasn’t just the post players getting in on the inside action Wednesday. Allmond had a dunk and Murray drove the lane and laid one off the glass for two of his nine points.
Senior point guard Ashton Mitchell, who was plagued with foul trouble, also scored inside.
“We just attack, attack. That is our mentality sometimes,” Clavell said. “We shoot 3-pointers, but now you see Corey Allmond going to the basket. He had a dunk today. He got me really excited on the bench.
“Preston attacked and got a dunk. I dunked one. Everybody was getting layups. Drae attacking the basket, all the little guys.
“People think we only shoot 3s all the time and only me and Preston work in the post, but we all attacked and attacked.”
Northwestern State cut the lead to 20 early in the second half thanks to a trey from Damon Jones, who scored a team-high 21 points.
But as they did all night, the Bearkats answered with Brown and Mitchell scoring consecutive baskets to push the lead back to 63-39.
The Demons never got closer and trailed by as many as 31 when Allmond hit his only 3 of the second half with 6:12 remaining.
Devon Baker added 17 points for Northwestern State and Williams Mosley grabbed 17 boards with four blocks.
The loss really hurts the Demons’ chances of making the Southland Conference tournament. Heading into Wednesday, Northwestern State was tied with Lamar, Nicholls and McNeese State for the eighth and final spot.
The Colonels were the only team to win Wednesday, knocking off Texas-Arlington 73-64 at Texas Hall. The Cardinals fell to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 79-55 at home and the Cowboys lost 60-59 at Southeastern Louisiana.
That gives Nicholls a one-game lead over the other three with one contest remaining in the regular season.
“It was an emotional night for them, it was senior night, and their tournament started tonight,” Marlin added. “It was almost a play-in game for them. Once we got ahead of them and hit some shots, we were able to capitalize on that. We kept our heads in it and played a smart game.”
