HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Freshman Kasen Harrison scored a team-high 14 points and junior Lincoln Smith scored a career-high 12 but Lamar University struggled to slow down Sam Houston's high-powered offense falling by the score of 96-71 Wednesday evening in Huntsville. The loss drops LU to 3-10 on the season and 1-3 in Southland Conference play.
 
The Cardinals got out to a quick start and finished the night shooting 28-of-59 (.475) from the field, but just 2-of-11 from three-point range. For one of the few times all season the Cardinals struggled from the free throw line. One of the top free throw shooting teams in the Southland, the Cardinals converted just 13-of-26 (.500) attempts from the stripe.
 
In addition to Harrison and Smith, senior Avery Sullivan and junior Quinlan Bennett also hit double figures. Bennett scored 13 points, while Sullivan added 12 points and seven rebounds.
 
The Bearkats finished the night shooting 36-of-65 (.554) from the field, which included 14 three-pointers. They also led LU on the glass, 41-30. Sam Houston also got a huge lift from its bench outscoring the Cardinals' reserves, 38-19. Zach Nutall led four Bearkats in double figures with 28 points.
 
The Cardinals opened the game on an 8-2 run and connected on seven of their first 11 attempts, but it did not take long for Sam Houston to heat up. The Bearkats were seven of their first 13 to trim the lead down to a single possession. The Bearkats rattled off a 17-8 run to take their first lead of the game. Freshman Kasen Harrison ended the run with a basket at 11:14 in the opening half. After taking the lead, the Bearkats built their advantage to five points before the Cardinals rallied to tie the game at 26. Unfortunately, the Bearkats caught fire rattling off a 24-5 run to close the half and took a 20-point lead into the locker room. Sam Houston's lead grew to as many as 36 before LU made a late run to close the gap.
 
The Cardinals return to action Saturday when they host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The game against the Islanders will tip off at 4:30 p.m. from the Montagne Center.