March 3, 2006
Contact: Kyle Stephens (210) 458-4551
Donlon, Owens double-doubles not enough as Northwestern State beats UTSA, 85-64
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SAN ANTONIO – Senior Andre Owens (right) and sophomore Abe Donlon each posted double-doubles but it was not enough as Northwestern State defeated UTSA, 85-64, Friday afternoon at the Convocation Center.
With the win, the Demons, the Southland Conference regular season champions, improve to 22-7 overall and 15-1 in the league. The Roadrunners fall to 11-16 and 6-10.
UTSA already clinched a berth in the O’Reilly Auto Parts/Southland Conference Basketball Tournament and can earn the No. 7-seed with a McNeese State victory at Texas-Arlington. If that happens, the Roadrunners will travel to No. 2-seed Sam Houston State on Tuesday, March 7. If UTSA is the 8-seed, it travels to Natchitoches, La., for a rematch with Northwestern State.
Owens scored 20 points, his 13th 20-point outing of the season, and added a game-high 11 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the year. Donlon (left) posted 12 points and 10 boards for his second double-double. Junior Chris Thompson added 11 points, while junior Gabe Bernard scored nine, all in the second half.
Clifton Lee led all players with 21 points to go along with seven rebounds for the Demons. Byron Allen and Kerwin Forges added 14 and 13, respectively.
Northwestern State shot 55.2 percent from the field for the game and held UTSA to 35.4 percent shooting. The Demons built a double-digit lead in the first half and withstood a second-half rally by the Roadrunners in wrapping up their second straight regular season crown.
The Demons built a 27-15 lead midway through the first half without the services of usual starter Jermaine Wallace, who was suspended for the game due to an ejection in Wednesday’s win at Texas State.
The lead grew to 16 at the 3:01 mark on Keenan Jones jumper that made it 41-25. An Owens jumper and a free throw by freshman Nkem Ojougboh cut the deficit to 41-28 with 1:46 left, but Dyer added a lay-up with 1:32 to play to end all scoring in the first half.
The Demons shot 53.1 percent in the half and held the Roadrunners to just 28.6 percent (10-of-35).
Northwestern State pushed the lead to 49-30 to start the second half and held a 51-33 lead with 16:28 to play.
UTSA used a 16-7 run, capped by a Thompson 3-pointer, to pull within 56-46 with 11:24 remaining. The Roadrunners continued the comeback as a Bernard trey from the left corner cut it to nine at the 10:17 mark. Thompson drained his third 3-pointer of the game from the top of the key with 7:50 left to pull UTSA to within 64-57.
The Demons answered with an 11-4 run over the next 4:30 and extended their lead to 77-63 with just 3:13 to play. Northwestern State held on from there for the 85-64 win.
The Roadrunners hit the road for a first round game against either Northwestern State or Sam Houston State in the O’Reilly Auto Parts/Southland Conference Tournament on Tuesday, March 7. Tip is set for 7 p.m.
Notes
UTSA honored its lone senior, Andre Owens, prior to the game. Owens moved into 21st place on UTSA’s all-time scoring list with 780 points. He can break into the top 20 with 25 points in the SLC Tournament.
Former standout Derrick Gervin (1982-85) had his jersey retired at halftime. The younger brother of former NBA star George Gervin ranks second in school history with 1,691 points. George also was in attendance Friday.
San Antonio Spurs star Tony Parker was in the stands for the game. Tony’s younger brother, Pierre, is sitting out this spring semester after transferring to UTSA from Loyola-Chcago over the holiday break.