Box ScoreNCAA Division I member Sam Houston State built a 17-4 lead in the opening five minutes en route to a 96-54 win over the LeTourneau University men's basketball team.
"It's always tough to play against a NCAA Division I opponent and tonight, we played a great Sam Houston State club," said LETU second-year head coach
Dan Miller. The Bearkats, who are picked to finish fourth in the Southland Conference, are the second NCAA Division I foe for LeTourneau in 2015-16. Earlier this season, LETU faced Rice to begin the season. Both contests count as exhibition games for the YellowJackets and are not reflected in the win-loss column.
Sam Houston State (3-6) had five players in double figures, including a double double from Aurimas Majauskas, who had a game-high 23 points and 11 rebounds in the win. Also in double figures were Albert Almandza (15 points), Jovante Spivey (15 points), Andre Sands (10 points) and Jamal Williams (12 points). In the win, SHSU shot 48.7% (37-for-76) from the field, including a 40.9% (9-for-22) clip from the 3-point line.
LETU junior
Jeff Martin and senior
Giovanny Thompson each had 11 points to lead the YellowJackets. Martin made three 3-pointers, plus Thompson scored seven of his 11 from the free-throw in the loss. Freshman
Seth Mattson came off the bench to score eight points in 13 minutes of action. Miller balanced the minutes among 14 players, who were playing their third game in a five-day stretch.
"We played everybody tonight and our team gained a lot of experience, especially our freshman," added Miller. "It was a great learning experience in seeing things we need to work on and getting guys' minutes who normally don't get a lot of minutes. We will definitely improve from this and are ready to get back to ASC play."
Next, LeTourneau will next face UT Tyler on Thursday afternoon at 3 p.m. at Solheim Arena.
