Dec. 28, 2005
Contact: Rick Nixon (210) 458-4551
UTSA pounds St. Bonaventure, 76-55, to claim second straight Florida International Tournament Championship
Box Score
MIAMI, Fla. - Senior Andre Owens earned Tournament Most Valuable Player honors by scoring 21 points as the Roadrunners won their second consecutive Florida International Tournament championship with a 76-55 victory over the St. Bonaventure Bonnies on Wednesday night at Pharmed Arena.
UTSA, which improved to 5-5 with the resounding win, also received 13 points from freshman Aldric Reynolds (pictured right), who was also named to the all-tournament team. Roderick Rodgers added 8 points and career-high 11 rebounds for the Roadrunners.
St. Bonaventure of the Atlantic 10 Conference fell to 6-5 with the loss. Ahmad Smith led the Bonnies with 19 points, with 17 of those coming in the first half.
"To come here to Miami and win this tournament is a great confidence builder for our young team," said UTSA coach Tim Carter. "I was extremely impressed with our rebounding over the last two days. We outrebounded two physical teams from two physical conferences and that made a big difference in the games."
After trailing 18-10 with 12:57 to play in the first half, the Roadrunners closed the opening half on a 33-11 run and led 43-29 at halftime as Owens had 15 first half points for UTSA.
A layup by Paul Williams of St. Bonaventure with 15:29 to play brought the Bonnies within 45-37.
It would be as close as St. Bonaventure would get, however, as UTSA answered the call with a 12-0 run and led 57-37 on a layup by Rodgers with 9:34 to play.
The Roadrunners stretched the advantage to as many as 29 points, 74-45 on a jump shot by Reynolds with 2:38 remaining.
The Florida International Tournament title is UTSA's second in the last four years. The Roadrunners also won the championship in 2001 and are now 4-0 in games played at Florida International.
"It was great to come here and win these two games," said Owens, who averaged 22.0 points over the two wins. "To beat a tough Cal State Fullerton team yesterday, and St. Bonaventure today, I think it shows that this team is starting to grow up."
UTSA outrebounded the Bonnies 51-36 and scored numerous points off of St. Bonaventure's 15 turnovers.
The Roadrunners will return to action with their final non-conference game on Jan. 2 at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Tipoff will be at 7 p.m. and can be heard on KKYX 680 AM and on goUTSA.com.