· Box score
SAN ANTONIO – Senior Kurt Attaway’s off-balance layup with 55 seconds remaining helped lift UTSA to a 48-45 victory against Stephen F. Austin on Saturday night at the Convocation Center.
The Roadrunners led by as many as 10 points in the second half, but found themselves trailing 45-44 with less than a minute to play. Attaway drove the left baseline and banked in an off-balance layup – his only basket of the night – to give UTSA the lead. Following a missed 3-pointer by the Lumberjacks with less than two ticks on the clock, Attaway tipped away an SFA inbounds pass near midcourt to seal it for the Roadrunners (6-15, 2-6 SLC). Attaway drained the game-winning 3-pointer in the final seconds of the last meeting with the Lumberjacks (71-68) on Feb. 23, 2006.
Juniors Andrew Francis and Melvin Smith supplied most of the offense, as Francis recorded 12 points and 13 rebounds, his third double-double of the season, and Smith poured in 19 points, his 16th double-digit outing of the year.
Defensively, UTSA held the Lumberjacks (13-8, 6-3 SLC) to just 45 points, one shy of their season low, and to 31.8 percent (14-44) shooting from the floor, 16 percentage points below their season average. Josh Alexander led SFA with 16 points and eight boards.
“It was a total team win tonight,” head coach Brooks Thompson said after the game. “They are a good basketball team, but we guarded them very well. The guys executed the game plan and didn’t let losing the 10-point lead decide the game.”
UTSA overcame an early seven-point deficit, thanks largely to a four-minute drought from the field for SFA, and held a 24-21 lead at the break. The lead grew as Francis drove baseline for a two-handed slam and freshman Dezon Otis drained a 3-pointer from the right wing to give UTSA its largest lead, 42-32, and force an SFA timeout with 10:57 to play.
SFA answered with 11 straight points over the next 4:55 to retake the lead, 43-42, with just over six minutes remaining.
Smith converted a pair of free throws at the 4:30 mark to end the drought. UTSA did not hit another field goal until Attaway’s winning lay-up, a 10-minute stretch without a basket.
The Roadrunners host Southeastern Louisiana next Thursday, Feb. 8, at 7 p.m. at the Convocation Center.
