With just over four and a half minutes left to play in Thursday’s WKU versus Sam Houston game, Hilltopper big man Rodney Howard drained a clutch free throw off of an and-1 layup, extending the Hilltoppers lead to four.
It was not uncommon to see WKU with the advantage on the scoreboard, as they led for nearly 35 of the 40 minutes.
However, Sam Houston forward Owen McGlashan retaliated on the following possession with a long three to bring the score within one. This was the only shot that McGlashan attempted on the night in his six minutes of play.
Brandon Newman, though, was not ready to go down without a fight, as he responded with a three of his own, his seventh point of the game.
Then followed a run. The Bearkat offense broke out on a 5-0 run to put them up by one. The charge was led by a joint effort from Davon Barnes, the man who scored each of the Bearkats’ first 13 points of the game, and Lamar Wilkerson, a player who averages nearly 15 points a game, yet, his layup contributions were his first of the night.
Afterwards, both teams would go ice cold. A missed three by WKU’s Don McHenry preceded a missed triple from the Bearkats’ Wilkerson. After the Bearkats got the ball back from a Don McHenry travel, Cameron Huefner, who had a season-high 18 points, missed what could have been the dagger three, giving the Hilltoppers a chance.
WKU’s Dontaie Allen took that chance to the charity stripe. Allen drained the first of his two free throws to knot the teams up at 75 with just 82 seconds left to play.
Unfortunately for the Hilltoppers, Wilkerson continued to pile it on when it mattered, scoring back-to-back layups, interrupted by a layup from Brandon Newman, to give the Bearkats the lead and the Hilltoppers the ball with 17 seconds left.
WKU opted for Don McHenry to be the primary ball handler, but when his attempt to the paint was unsuccessful, he found Brandon Newman inside again. However, Newman lost his footing and attempted a circus-like shot attempt, blocked by Lamar Wilkerson.
Now, with only seven seconds left, the Hilltoppers had to foul. After they fouled twice, putting Sam Houston in the bonus, the Bearkats’ Marcus Boykin had a chance to put the game away at the free-throw line. However, it being a one-and-one, meant that when he missed his first attempt the ball was live.
WKU’s Enoch Kalambay grabbed the rebound with five seconds left. With no timeouts, the Hilltoppers had to make the run down the court. After Kalambay was unable to find separation from his man on his journey to the basket, he dished out to Don McHenry.
The man from Milwaukee, who leads the team in three-point percentage, heaved up a 30-footer, but to no avail. The Hilltoppers dropped their first home game since February 25, 2023.
After the game, WKU Head Coach Steve Lutz walked the media through the intended game plan for the final possession.
“I thought when the shot left Don’s hands, it looked pretty good to me,” Coach Lutz said. “And you know, that’s a shot that he’s made. We talked a little bit, obviously, we didn’t have any timeouts, but I pulled him over prior to the free throw being shot and I said, ‘You have five and a half seconds’, that’s plenty of time to get the ball down the floor and into the rim.”
Yet, when it came to what happened on the other side of the floor, Coach Lutz could only speak in retrospect.
“Enoch tried right? He tried to get the ball to the rim and it kind of closed up on him,” Coach Lutz said “He passed on it and I thought Don had a relatively good look, you know so unfortunately for us, it did not go in and again, credit to Sam Houston State. They did a fantastic job tonight.”
With the loss, the Hilltoppers moved to 14-7 on the year and 3-4 in conference play.
