Sam Houston State's backcourt of Demarcus Gatlin and Darius Gatson scored 20 and 17 points, respectively, as the Bearkats defeated Samford 74-58 on Wednesday night.
Marcus James added 10 points and eight rebounds for the Bearkats (5-8), who never trailed in the game.
Sam Houston State led 12-4 in the early going and built that cushion to 39-22 lead by halftime. Samford (3-8) used a 14-3 run to pull within 47-43 on a pair of free throws by Jeffrey Merritt with 11:47 to play, but the Bearkats put together runs of 7-0 and 9-0 down the stretch to pull away.
Brandon Hayman had 10 points to lead Samford, which committed 25 turnovers that led to 30 points for Sam Houston State.
The game was marred by 51 personal fouls. Texas State was 28 for 37 at the line while Samford was 11 of 17.
