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BEAUMONT — Sophomore Jeromie Hill led three Roadrunners in double figures with 18 points, but Brandon Davis poured in 21 of his game-high 23 in the second half to help lift Lamar to an 80-66 victory against UTSA on Saturday at the Montagne Center.
The two teams were knotted at 27 at the half, but the Cardinals outscored the Roadrunners, 53-39, after intermission to run their record to 15-8 overall (6-3 SLC). UTSA dropped its second consecutive game to fall to 14-9 (6-3 SLC).
Davis, who led four Cardinals in double digits, drained five 3-pointers on 13 attempts and was 7-for-18 from the field overall and 4-of-4 at the free-throw line. Anthony Miles added 18, a dozen after halftime, while Devon Lamb and Mike James scored 16 apiece.
Juniors Melvin Johnson III and Kannon Burrage joined Hill in double figures with 15 and 13 points, respectively, but UTSA could not overcome 17 turnovers — its most since committing 20 in the Sam Houston State victory on Jan. 8 — and that led to 23 Lamar points.
The Roadrunners shot 45.3 percent (24-of-53) from the field, including 10-of-20 (50 percent) from beyond the arc, and they also were good on 8-of-10 (80 percent) at the charity stripe.
Meanwhile, Lamar shot 50 percent (27-of-54), including 65.4 percent (17-of-26) in the second half, and made 19-of-25 (76 percent) at the line.
Lamb added 10 rebounds to help the Cardinals post a 35-25 advantage on the glass.
Despite turning the ball over 10 times, which led to 13 Lamar points, UTSA fought back from six- and five-point deficits to force a 27-27 deadlock at the intermission.
Lamar led by as many as six early in the first and held a 27-22 advantage with less than four minutes remaining but the Roadrunners closed the stanza with five unanswered, the last three on a Hill trey from the left wing with a half minute to go.
The Cardinals extended the lead to nine early in the second half after Davis got hot from downtown. His fourth 3-pointer in a five-minute, 35-second stretch gave Lamar a 48-39 lead.
UTSA responded with a 6-0 run to pull back to within three, but Lamar pushed the lead to double digits after James connected on a three and a fast-break jumper and Davis drained another three-ball to make it 61-49 midway through the stanza.
The Roadrunners cut it to nine three times down the stretch, the last time on a Burrage layup with 5:11 remaining, but they got no closer in suffering their largest loss of the season.
UTSA returns home on Wednesday, Feb. 8, to host Southeastern Louisiana (8-12, 2-6 SLC) at 7 p.m.