KATY, Texas – Twenty minutes separated Darius Gatson and the end of his collegiate career. Scoreless and in foul trouble, the Sam Houston State guard didn’t look as if Wednesday would be his – or the Bearkats – night.
Whatever happened or was said in the locker room worked like magic. There will now be at least one more game for Gatson, who came out of the locker room and vented his frustration in the direction of Central Arkansas, scoring all 19 of his points after intermission to help Sam Houston advance to Thursday’s quarterfinals with a 69-63 win over a Bears team making its Southland Conference tournament debut. "Coach (Jason Hooten) told me I had 20 minutes to go out there and give it all I’ve got," said Gatson, who connected on six of his seven 3-point attempts in the second half. "My teammates did a great job of feeding me the ball while I was open, and I just did what I did. I just didn’t want to lose." "That’s what seniors do," Hooten said. "That’s what guys do when they know it’s a big game." What Gatson did was help the Bearkats (16-16) shoot a solid 58 percent from the field in the second half, including a 20-7 run that turned a 34-34 tie into a 54-41 edge with 8:33 remaining. "He (Gatson) came back in the second half with a vengeance," said Central Arkansas coach Corliss Williamson, whose team ended its season with a 13-17 mark. The second-highest scoring team during the Southland regular season, the Bears fell 14 points below their 76.9 average during the regular season. While leading scorer LaQuentin Miles scored 19 for UCA, Jarvis Garner was smothered by the Sam Houston defense, which held the conference’s third-leading scorer to a paltry 3-of-16 shooting on the evening. Central Arkansas was also victimized by the hustle of Sam Houston, especially on the offensive end. The Bearkats scored 18 second-chance points and held the Bears to just one fast-break basket. "We did the same thing we did the two other times we played them," Hooten said of his team, which swept the regular season series against the Bears. Gatson’s final trey of the night gave Sam Houston a 62-49 lead with 3:58 remaining, but Central Arkansas refused to go quietly, drawing to within 68-63 before Will Bond’s free throw in the final 10 seconds finally sealed the deal for the Bearkats, who will play third-seeded Oral Roberts at 7:30 p.m. "Sam Houston is just very tough defensively," Williamson said. "They’re physical on defense… they did an excellent job of attacking the basket and kicking it out and finding shooters. "In the long run, I’m happy with how our season went," added Williamson, whose team won seven conference games this year after managing just three in 2011-12.
