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FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Juniors Kannon Burrage and Melvin Johnson III scored 14 points apiece and senior Stephen Franklin added a dozen, as UTSA built a 20-point lead and held on to defeat Fresno State, 83-79, in its final game of the Dick’s Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off on Tuesday evening at Moby Arena.
The Roadrunners improved to 3-2 with the win in their first-ever meeting with the Bulldogs (2-3) and now have won six of their last seven neutral-site contests.
Already armed with a 17-point lead at the break, sophomore Jeromie Hill knocked down a 3-pointer from the left wing to give UTSA a 61-41 advantage, its largest of the game, early in the second half.
The Bulldogs then began to claw their way back into the game, as they reeled off 10 unanswered points, the final three on a long distance connection by Kevin Olekaibe at the 11:11 mark. Jonathan Wills cut the deficit to single digits after a pair of free throws two minutes later made it 65-57.
Wills made two more freebies and then converted a plus-one at the 5:05 mark to put him at a perfect 13-for-13 at the line and pull Fresno State to within five at 73-68. Olekaibe drained a baseline jumper with 4:39 to play to make it a one-possession game
After UTSA extended the lead back to seven at 77-70, the Bulldogs got within four after a Steven Shepp layup at the 2:10 mark made it 78-74.
Forced to foul in the final minute, Fresno State sent Johnson III to the line with 23 seconds remaining, where he converted both to push the lead to a half dozen. Wills connected with a trey from the left wing, but junior Michael Hale III made 1-of-2 at the charity stripe to make it a two-possession game with 10.8 ticks left.
Shepp found Brown all alone under the basket for an easy layup to pull Fresno State within a pair at 81-79 with four seconds on the clock, but Johnson III came through with two freebies to ice it.
UTSA shot 50 percent (26-of-52) for the game and, after knocking down their first 14 free-throw attempts, made 24-of-31 (77.4 percent) from the line.
Burrage pulled down a game-best seven rebounds, while Franklin dished out a team-high seven assists. Hill and Hale III scored nine apiece, while senior Alex Vouyoukas and sophomore Igor Nujic posted eight each.
Wills led all players with 26 points behind his perfect night at the line, while Olekaibe scored 18 on the strength of four treys. Tyler Johnson (11) and Jerry Brown (10) also reached double figures for the Bulldogs, who shot 41.4 percent (24-of-58) from the field but made just 8-of-28 from beyond the arc. Fresno State also converted 23-of-30 (76.7 percent) at the line, including 19-for-24 in the second half.
Burrage, Johnson III and Franklin, a native of nearby Aurora, Colo., helped give UTSA an 11-point advantage midway through the first. Burrage made four of his first six shot attempts and Johnson III and Franklin both found the bottom of the net from downtown twice to help stake the Roadrunners to a 28-17 lead with eight minutes to play in the half.
The lead grew to 34-21 on a pair of free throws by Hale III, who was celebrating his 22nd birthday, at the six-minute mark.
Johnson and Olekaibe drained threes on back-to-back possessions to pull the Bulldogs back to within 36-29 with 2:42 on the clock.
UTSA responded by ending the half on a 12-2 run.
Burrage had an offensive rebound and put-back then a steal and layup one possession later to push the lead to 44-31. Johnson III then came up with a theft and was fouled on the fast break. He made both and Hale III converted a pair with 11 ticks left to provide the 48-31 halftime margin.
The Roadrunners shot 53.3 percent (16-of-30) in the half and made all 12 of their free-throw attempts, while holding the Bulldogs to 39.3 percent and forcing 12 turnovers.
UTSA will host a pair of games this weekend at the Convocation Center. The Birds will face Pepperdine (2-2) at noon on Saturday followed by a 2 p.m. tilt against Cameron (3-1) the next day.