| Freshman Devin Gibson had 19 points, seven assists and seven steals on Saturday night. |
SAN ANTONIO ? Freshman Devin Gibson led a balanced scoring attack with 19 points to help the UTSA men’s basketball team defeat Navy, 77-67, on Saturday night before 3,179 fans at the Alamodome.
With their first in three tries in the Alamodome, the Roadrunners improved to 2-1 on the season, while the Midshipmen dropped to 1-3.
Gibson’s 19 led all players, while junior Travis Gabbidon added 16, 14 of which came in the second half. Senior Isaiah Allen and junior Joey Shank contributed 13 and 12, respectively, while Gabbidon, senior Keith Spencer and junior Antoine Dade pulled down a game-high six rebounds apiece. Gibson added seven assists, seven steals and three rebounds on his night, converting 14-of-18 from the free throw line.
UTSA drained three of its first four 3-point attempts in building a 13-5 lead out of the gates. Junior Antoine Dade keyed 11-2 run with back-to-back jumpers and a blocked shot, one of two on the night, that gave the Roadrunners a 28-14 advantage with 6:07 to play in the half.
Navy pulled to within 29-21 on a Romeo Garcia layup at the 1:45 mark, but UTSA answered with a 7-2 run capped by an Allen trey from the right wing with just under a minute left. A Scott Brooks jumper made it 36-25 at the break.
The Roadrunners opened the second half with two straight baskets to open the lead up to 40-25. Navy mounted a 10-2 run, capped by a Brian Richards rebound and follow at the 13-minute mark to make it a seven-point game, but Gibson ended the scoring drought seconds later with a driving layup.
A Cliff Colbert layup with 10:50 to play kept Navy within striking distance, but a 6-0 run by the Roadrunners stretched the lead out to 54-41 with just over nine minutes remaining. UTSA would build the advantage to 16 on a long-range 3-pointer from Gabbidon at the 4:46 mark and the Roadrunners rolled from there.
UTSA forced 27 turnovers ? 16 of those steals ? and shot 43.6 percent (24-55) from the floor for the night. The Midshipmen outrebounded the Roadrunners by two, 35-33, and shot 47.2 percent (25-53) from the field. The two teams combined for 50 fouls.
The Roadrunners are off until they host Paul Quinn on Monday, Nov. 26.