By Gene Schallenberg
Thanks to another impressive defensive effort and a better offensive start, the Bearkats came away with another resounding victory.
Led by junior forward Gilberto Clavell, who scored 19 points, and seniors Corey Allmond and Ashton Mitchell, Sam Houston State blasted Texas College 91-54 on Monday at Johnson Coliseum.
“We were good defensively. We spent most of our time on defense,” SHSU head coach Bob Marlin said. “In the first half, we got off to a good start and we were able to rest a lot of the guys in the second half.
“Arthur Zulu got us off to a good start in the post playing inside. Gilberto running the floor, (Antuan) Bootle ran the floor; all those guys got baskets running the floor, doing what we ask them to do. So, I was pleased with the post play tonight.”
For most of the first half, it was a close game as the Steers (3-2) kept pace with the Bearkats.
Texas College reserve guard Dwayne Johnson drilled a 3-pointer with less than seven minutes to play in the first half to draw within five at 25-20. But Clavell, who scored six points in the last seven minutes of the first half, took a more active role around the basket and started to establish a presence inside.
The Bearkats closed the half on a 22-6 run to take a 47-26 lead at the break.
“We practice every day, going from the inside out,” said Clavell, who pulled down three rebounds. “It’s good because we have great shooters and we’ve got great posts right now. It’s going to be difficult to match up with us.
“Our main point of the game was to run with the big guys. If we run, we knew we were going to get easy layups.”
Defensively, the SHSU guards kept pressure on Texas College, forcing the Steers to turn the ball over.
As a result, the Kats were able to push the ball up the court for quick transition points, which helped Sam Houston State extend its lead even further in the second half. The Bearkats forced 23 turnovers and were able to convert those into 31 points.
“We just want to keep them to one shot and get out in transition,” Mitchell said.
Texas College relied mainly on its 3-point shot. Even though the Steers hit 10 treys, the Bearkats posts made sure that there weren’t going to be many second chances. Sam Houston held Texas College to just eight offensive rebounds and eight second-chance points.
“It gets hard having to defend it after a while because their offense is a three-man weave,” Mitchell said. “With me being in the middle, I have to guard all three of them. They had some quick guys.”
With a comfortable lead at halftime, reserves came off the bench and didn’t miss a beat. Allmond hit 3-of-5 treys to finish with 13 points and Bootle scored 10 points and grabbed six boards in the second half.
“That’s what we practice every day,” Clavell said. “Box out, box out and box out. We’re not a tall team. That’s the emphasis. If we don’t box out, the other team is going to get second-chance points. Boxing out is key to the game, every game.”
