| Junior Travis Gabbidon's 15 points led all players Saturday afternoon. |
SAN ANTONIO ? Junior Travis Gabbidon scored 15 points, but it was not enough as SMU outscored UTSA, 37-25, in the second half en route to a 62-56 victory Saturday afternoon at the Convocation Center.
With the loss, the Roadrunners (4-2) saw their three-game winning streak come to an end, while the Mustangs improved to 2-4.
Gabbidon’s 15 led all players, while senior Keith Spencer pulled down a career high-tying 12 rebounds, also a game high. Senior Isaiah Allen poured in 12 points, but UTSA shot just 30.8 percent from the field for the game. The Roadrunners took 26 3-point shots for the game, but made only six (23.1 percent) on the afternoon. UTSA did force 20 turnovers ? 10 of those steals ? the fourth game with 20-plus turnovers for an opponent this season.
Mike Walker and Derrick Roberts led SMU with 13 and 10 points, respectively, while Paulius Ritter and Papa Dia grabbed eight boards apiece. The Mustangs shot 42 percent for the game and were 5-of-11 from behind the 3-point arc.
In a first half marred by 24 combined fouls, UTSA overcame 29.4-percent shooting from the floor to hold a 31-25 lead at the break. SMU shot 40 percent from the field, but converted just 3-of-11 from the free throw line.
The Roadrunners built a 22-15 lead with just over seven minutes remaining in the first, but SMU responded with a 10-2 run to take a 25-24 advantage on a Bamba Fall lay-in at the 3:49 mark. UTSA closed the half with seven unanswered, including a 3-pointer by junior Orrin Greer.
An Allen trey pushed UTSA’s lead to 37-29 at the 17:13 mark of the second half, but SMU began a 9-0 run with an Alex Malone 3-pointer and took a 43-39 lead with 11:41 to play.
Senior Melvin Smith drove baseline for a running layup to knot the score at 45-45 with just under eight minutes remaining, but SMU reeled off eight straight points to build its lead to 53-45.
UTSA made it interesting in the final minutes, trimming what was an eight-point lead with 3:29 left to 58-56 after freshman Devin Gibson converted a pair of free throws with 39 seconds left. Derrick Roberts was fouled on SMU’s next possession and made both his freebies and UTSA missed on a 3-point attempt with 15 ticks remaining. Roberts drained two more free throws to ice it for the Mustangs.
The Roadrunners return to action on Wednesday, Dec. 12, at Arkansas.