Sam Houston St. Bearkats vs Baylor Bears Match Player Stats On Dec 04, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Dec 4, 2017

The No. 23 Baylor Bears shrugged off a couple of losses against ranked foes last week and raced past Sam Houston State 84-56 on Monday night at the Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas.

Baylor grabbed a 22-point lead when guard Manu Lecomte nailed a 3-pointer early in the second half, and the Bears never let the Bearkats climb back in the contest.

Forward Jo Lual-Acuil scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and forward Nuni Omit also had 15 to lead Baylor. The Bears had six players in double figures. Forward Tristan Clark scored 14, Lecomte finished with 12, and guard Jake Lindsey and forward Mark Vital each added 11.

Guard Chris Galbreath scored 24 and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Sam Houston State (5-4), but he was the only Bearkat in double digits in either category.

Baylor (6-2) lost at No. 21 Xavier and at home against No. 8 Wichita State last week. However, the Bears stopped the short skid by asserting themselves early against the Bearkats.

Baylor's defense kept Sam Houston State from making a field goal for seven minutes in the first half, allowing the Bears to take control.

Baylor stretched a 12-11 lead to 24-12 as Omot kick-started the offense with a 3-pointer and dunk.

Guard Albert Almanza broke the Bearkats' drought with a 3-pointer from the top of the key.

The Bears kept coming with a 16-2 run to open up their largest lead of the first half. Lual-Acuil made a pair of free throws to put Baylor ahead 40-17 with 1:40 left before the break.

Sam Houston State finished the first half on a mini run as guard John Dewey drained three free throws with three seconds left on the clock. Then Omot committed a turnover, allowing Almanza time to hit a trey that cut Baylor's lead to 40-25 at halftime.

Omot led Baylor with 10 points in the first 20 minutes.

Galbreath scored the Bearkats' first eight points but then managed just a single tally for the final 14:01 of the first half. He picked up his second foul with 6:31 left and sat until the second half.