Feb. 11, 2006
Contact: Kyle Stephens (210) 458-4907
Furious second-half rally falls short as Lamar holds off UTSA, 77-70
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SAN ANTONIO - Junior Gabe Bernard drained five 3-pointers to lead a furious second-half rally, but Thomas Fairley posted 28 points and 14 rebounds as Lamar held off UTSA, 77-70, Saturday afternoon in front of 2,111 fans at the Convocation Center.
Bernard scored all 15 of his points in the second half as the Roadrunners (9-13, 4-7 Southland Conference) rallied from 24 down to within three points with less than a minute remaining before falling to the Cardinals (14-9, 7-3 SLC).
Sophomore Abe Donlon (right) posted his first career double-double with a career-high 18 points and 15 rebounds, while senior Andre Owens tallied 17 points for UTSA.
Fairley's double-double led Lamar, while Matthew Barrow added 15 points and Jason Grant turned in 10. UTSA held Alan Daniels, the conference's leading scorer at 23.5 points per game, to just nine points on the afternoon.
Lamar broke open a tight game with a 12-0 run midway through the first half. The Cardinals extended their lead to 35-20 on a Fairley jumper at the 4:15 mark and eventually held a 46-28 advantage at the break. Fairley had 18 points in the half to lead all players.
The Cardinals held the Roadrunners to just 28.2 shooting in the first half, including a 2-for-12 performance from behind the arc. Lamar shot 48.7 percent despite also hitting just 2-of-12 from downtown.
Lamar extended the lead to 54-30 to start the second half behind six more points from Fairley before the Roadrunners began their comeback.
A 16-0 run over the next five minutes capped by a Gabe Bernard 3-pointer cut the Lamar lead down to 54-46. Barrow answered with a trey of his own but Bernard drained another trifecta to cut the deficit to eight with 10:10 to play. It was Bernard from downtown again at the 8:57 mark that cut it to 57-52 and forced an LU timeout.
The Roadrunners would trim the deficit down to six at 63-57 on another Bernard 3-pointer, but the Cardinals answered with four straight points to push the lead back to 10. The lead grew to 11 at 70-59 on a Barrow trey before UTSA made its last run.
A 3-point play by freshman Nkem Ojougboh cut it to 70-64 at the 1:08 mark. Brandon Chappell drained two free throws for Lamar, but a Bernard three and an Owens jumper in the lane pulled the Roadrunners to within 72-69 with 38 seconds remaining.
Forced to foul, Fairley missed the front end of a one-and-one, but UTSA could not take advantage, missing a 3-pointer with 28 seconds on the clock. The Cardinals held on from there, converting 5-of-6 from the charity stripe to hold on for the 77-70 win.
The Roadrunners travel to Arlington next Thursday, Feb. 16, for an SLC game at Texas-Arlington. Tip is set for 7:05 p.m. at Texas Hall.