· Box score
LAKE CHARLES, La. — Junior Keith Spencer posted his fifth double-double of the season, but Jarvis Bradley had one of his own as McNeese State held off a furious rally in a 63-57 victory over UTSA Thursday night in Southland Conference action at Burton Coliseum.
Spencer was 7-for-7 from the floor in scoring 14 points, while also pulling down a team-high 12 rebounds. Junior Melvin Smith added 10 points.
Bradley scored a game-high 20 points and matched Spencer’s 12 boards, while John Pinchon (15), John Ford (12) and Quentin Gonzales (11) also reached double-digit scoring.
The Roadrunners (6-20, 2-11 SLC) trailed by as many as 15 points with just over four minutes remaining, but rallied to within a basket in the final minute behind a 14-1 run. Ford was 4-for-4 from the free throw line in the final 40 seconds as the Cowboys (12-15, 7-6 SLC) held on for the win.
Both teams struggled from the floor in the first half as UTSA shot 36 percent (9-25) from the floor, while McNeese only made 10-of-26 (38.5 percent) from the field, including 0-for-7 from behind the arc.
The Roadrunners had a five-point lead early in the half, but the Cowboys fought back and took a 16-15 lead on a layup by Bradley at the 6:46 mark. McNeese closed the half on a 4-0 run for a 25-23 advantage.
McNeese scored the first four points of the second half to push the lead to six, but UTSA answered with a 6-0 run, knotting the score at 29-29 on an alley-oop slam dunk from Smith to junior Isaiah Allen.
The Cowboys then reeled off eight straight points over the next 3:40 for a 37-29 lead with just over 12 minutes remaining. The lead grew to as many as 15 down the stretch before a late run by UTSA made things interesting.
The Roadrunners made 4-of-6 free throws to cut the deficit to 56-45 with 2:45 left to play. A dunk by Spencer and a jumper by Smith made it an eight-point game with just under two minutes remaining. Attaway then made a pair of freebies and freshman Dezon Otis, who finished with seven points, converted a layup off an Allen steal at midcourt to pull UTSA to within four.
Forced to foul, UTSA chose Gonzales, who missed both and Spencer came up with as loose-ball layup at the other end to make it 57-55 with 42 ticks left. Ford made a pair of free throws, but a Smith layup with 21 seconds left pulled the Roadrunners back to within two. Ford sealed it with two more from the charity stripe and Rorey Lawrence put the exclamation point on with a breakaway dunk at the buzzer following a McNeese steal.
McNeese blistered the nets for 54.5-percent (12-22) shooting in the second half and finished the game 22-of-48 (45.8) from the field, despite an 0-for-9 night from the 3-point line. UTSA also heated up in the second half, converting 10-of-24 (41.7) from the floor, but was outrebounded, 36-31, for the game.
The Roadrunners face Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday, Feb. 24. Tip is set for noon at the American Bank Center.
