South Dakota fell in the Palms Division championship game by a final score of 80-49 to Sam Houston. The Bearkats remain undefeated at 6-0 while South Dakota moves to 3-3 on the season.
 
The Coyotes started the game out well and built an early 7-2 lead after a layup by A.J. Plitzuweit four minutes into the game. After that, Sam Houston turned up the pressure and started to force South Dakota into turnovers and tough shots. The Bearkats went on an 11-0 run beginning at the 13:42 mark and never let go of the lead. South Dakota managed to cut the lead down to two with a fastbreak layup from Paul Bruns with less than six minutes to go in the half. Sam Houston went on another run after that and built its lead to 14 by the end of the half.
 
The halftime intermission did not slow down the Bearkats as they continued to pile on and jumped out to a 21-point advantage just four minutes into the second half. Sam Houston led by as much as 33 in the second half and walked away as Palms Division champions.
 
SHSU had two players score in the 20's to lead the offensive effort. Cameron Huefner came off the bench and produced 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting. He also sank all four of his three-point attempts. Donte Powers, who was selected as the most valuable player at the tournament, scored 20 points on 7-of-9 from the floor and made 4-of-5 from the three-point line. As a team, Sam Houston shot 56 percent from the floor and 58 percent from three.
 
For South Dakota, Bruns was the one Coyote in double-figures with a 12-point effort. He went 5-of-9 from the floor and made two three-pointers. Mason Archambault scored nine points in the loss and added in three steals. Archambault was assigned to Sam Houston's leading scorer Qua Grant for a majority of the game and held Grant to five points and forced three turnovers. Archambault was named to the All-Tournament team after scoring 28 points throughout the tournament and recording seven total steals.  
 
South Dakota stays on the road for the week and travels next to Coastal Carolina on Saturday. That game is scheduled for a 2 p.m. ET tip-off from Conway, South Carolina.
 
Fort Myers Tip-Off All-Tournament Team
Donte Powers, Sam Houston (MVP)
Cameron Huefner, Sam Houston
R.J. Greene, LIU
Keshawn Williams, Northern Illinois
Mason Archambault, South Dakota