HUNTSVILLE, Texas — The Bearkats rallied from eight down to knock off Stephen F. Austin 76-71 in an instant classic at Johnson Coliseum on Thursday night.
The Lumberjacks (13-7, 5-2 WAC) went up 91-31 with 17 minutes left on the game. Sam Houston (14-5, 4-3) started chipping away at the lead thanks to back-to-back baskets byt Kaosi Ezeagu that trimmed the advantage to 48-44 a minute later.
Cameron Huefner drilled a 3-pointer to make it a one-point game and cap a 7-0 run at the 15-minute mark. SFA pushed the lead back to three, but Huefner hit a jumper and Damon Nicholas Jr., who played a key role off the bench with seven points, threw down a baseline dunk to put Sam Houston up 51-50.
The Lumberjacks briefly retook the lead before Nicholas drained a shot from behind the arc and Kian Scroggins made a jumper to make it 56-52 midway through the second half. The Bearkats' biggest lead was 63-54 following a layup by Qua Grant.
Huefner led Sam Houston with 20 points on 4 for 6 shooting from long range. Grant scored 13, Donte Powers had nine and Ezeagu finished with eight.
The Bearkats return to action Saturday when they host UTRGV at 4:30 p.m.
