Thomas, a 6-5 junior from Duncanville, came on strong late in the regular season, scoring in double figures in eight of Sam Houston's final eight games. Those performances included a team high 26 points in a victory at Central Arkansas Feb. 16.

Thomas lead the Bearkats with an 11.0 scoring average and 6.2 rebounds per game in Southland Conference play.

Gatson, the only senior on the 2013 Sam Houston squad, totaled 263 points and 103 assists this year. He was the team's second leading scorer. During his two years as a Bearkat, Gatson has totaled 512 career points.

Sam Houston State is the No. 6 seed in this week's Southland Conference Basketball Tournament that will be played this week at the Leonard E. Merrell Center in Katy, Texas.

The opening round of the tournament is Wednesday. Sam Houston takes on Central Arkansas Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast live in the Huntsville area and on the internet by KSAM 101.7 FM.

Second round action follows on Thursday with Wednesday's winners advancing. Those four games will be streamed live on the Southland Conference Digital network, which is available online at Southland.org and on the league's free mobile and tablet apps for iPhone and Android.

The semifinals will be played on Friday and be broadcast on ESPN3, while the championship game will be played Saturday at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN2. Tickets for the tournament are available through Ticketmaster or at the Merrell Center box office.

2013 Men's Basketball All-Southland Conference Team

Honorable Mention All-Conference: Jalan West, Northwestern State; James Thomas, Sam Houston State; Johnathan Jordan, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi; Will Nelson, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi; Darius Gatson, Sam Houston State; Desharick Guidry, McNeese State; Robert Crawford, Central Arkansas; Desmond Haymon, Stephen F. Austin; Kevin Hardy, McNeese State.