Hilltoppers Fall Short Facing Sam Houston, 79-77
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Hilltopper Basketball fell to Sam Houston on Thursday night in Diddle Arena, 79-77. WKU drops to 14-7 overall and 3-4 in Conference USA league play with the loss.
Thursday marked the second all-time meeting between WKU and Sam Houston in the Bearkats’ inaugural season as a member of CUSA. The Hilltoppers previously traveled to face Sam Houston on Jan. 10 for the teams’ first-ever matchup and saw a narrow 78-74 defeat on the road in Huntsville, Texas.
The Tops established control of the game early, jumping in front by as many as 13, 38-25, at the 4:11 mark of the first half. WKU led for nearly 35 minutes of play on Thursday, before Sam Houston regained its first lead since the 15:32 mark of the first half, 75-74, with 2:48 remaining in regulation.
The Tops evened the count, 75-75, with 1:22 to play following a made free throw by Allen. After a response by the Bearkats, a successful driving layup by Newman with :59 seconds remaining once again knotted the game at 77-77.
Sam Houston followed with a go-ahead layup in the paint with 17 seconds remaining. After a miss by the Bearkats on the frontend of a one-and-one, McHenry’s last-second three-point attempt rimmed out as time expired and WKU fell to Sam Houston by a 79-77 final count.
Don McHenry led the team in scoring with 21 points off 7-of-13 shooting from the field while charting three assists and three rebounds. Rodney Howard finished with a season-high 17 points off 8-of-9 from the field to go with six rebounds and an assist.
Dontaie Allen led in rebounds with a total of 10, while finishing with six points and an assist. Tyrone Marshall Jr. and McHenry each finished with a game-high three assists, and Brandon Newman charted a game-high two blocks with nine points, four rebounds, two assists and a steal.
WKU returns to Diddle Arena this Saturday, Feb. 3 and will host conference rival Middle Tennessee. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. CT with the game set to be nationally televised by ESPNU.
