Sam Houston Beats USIU at Baylor

Three Sam Houston players combined for 80 points Friday night to knock U.S. International out of the championship hunt and into tonight’s third-place game of the Dr Pepper Invitational men’s basketball tournament at Baylor University’s Ferrell Center.

Dennis Green and Derrick Gilliam each scored 30 and Erik Hammock added 20 for Sam Houston, which defeated the Gulls, 112-94, to advance to tonight’s title game with Baylor.

That will follow a game between USIU and Mercer, a 100-58 loser to Baylor.

Gilliam had 12 rebounds, and Michael Champion added 12 points for Sam Houston State, which improved to 2-0.

USIU was behind, 54-42, at halftime. Leading the Gulls (2-2) were Kevin Bradshaw (25 points), Isaac Brown (16) and Demetrius Laffitte (13).

“We didn’t show a lot of defense out there,” said Sam Houston Coach Larry Brown. “If we’re to win this tournament, we’ll have to play a super game against Baylor.”