Sam Houston State vs. Northwestern Oklahoma State Game Review

The effort put out by the Bearkats in Monday night's game was closer to the performance that we all expected from the start.

Yes, this game was close for a while. The Bearkats only led 46-40 at halftime. That had less to do with poor play by the Bearkats and more to do with a solid gameplan by the Rangers of NWOSU.

The Bearkats came out early and moved the ball very well, but the Rangers had an answer. When the Bearkats looked to move the ball inside to their big men, the Rangers did a fantastic job cutting off the entry passes. The Rangers felt that if they could cut off the pass to the inside, they could force the Bearkats into long range jumpers.

As frustration mounted for the likes of Gilberto Clavell, Antuan Bootle, and Kelly Lawson, the Rangers hung around. Forwards Jonathan Freemeyer and Orren Tims were cutting through the lane and getting to the basket with ease.

The script flipped around with the start of the second half.

Now when the Bearkats hoisted up three pointers, they were starting to fall.

Lance Pevehouse led the way as he hit two of his three treys all within five minutes at the start of the half.

As the long range shots began to go in, things loosened up inside. Clavell found his way inside for two layups and a rim-rattling dunk in the first seven minutes of the second half. He would finish with an even 20 points.

The Kats began to finally pull away beginning at the 11 minute mark of the second half. The Rangers went without a field goal for over four minutes. At the same time, Bootle, Pevehouse, and Josten Crow were getting to the basket at will.

The Bearkats were led by the solid play of point guard Drae Murray. He made four of his six field goal attempts all while dishing out 11 assists.

Josten Crow gave the Bearkats a little bit of everything as he poured in 11 points, grabbed seven rebounds, dished out eight assists, and had three steals just for good measure. He even went through periods where he played the role of pseudo-point guard with a great deal of success.

The defense again came through when they needed to. The Rangers shot 32.8 percent from the field and 22.2 percent from the three point line.

Forwards Freemeyer and Tims combined for 28 points for the Rangers, but they had to take 26 shots to get those points.

Hooten again went with mostly an eight man rotation. Lawson played only nine minutes and Byron Randle played just three. After the Mary Hardin-Baylor game, Hooten said that he wanted to play Randle more. He didn't play any more in this game than he did in the first Certainly the steady play of Drae Murray has something to do with Randle struggling to get onto the floor.

With just under seven minutes left in the second half, Clavell fell into a heap after making a three pointer. He needed help getting off the floor, but later he was walking around behind the bench. It appeared that he was cramping, so hopefully he won't miss any time.

This performance was a big step in the direction of getting to where Coach Hooten wants the team to be. The shooting percentages were up, the ball movement was much better, and the post players took advantage of their greater size and strength.

The Bearkats will now have over a week to rest up and prepare for their next time out. They'll need all the time they can get as they will next travel to Austin to take on the University of Texas on November 23 at 7 PM.