| Freshman JohnMark Ludwick scored a game-high 15 points on Wednesday night. |
ARLINGTON ? Freshman JohnMark Ludwick drained five 3-pointers en route to a game-high 15 points, but Rog’er Guignard led three Mavericks in double figures with 13, as UT Arlington nipped UTSA, 56-50, on Wednesday night in Southland Conference action at Texas Hall.
The Mavericks improved to 13-4 overall and 3-2 in conference play, while the Roadrunners fell to 8-9 and 2-2.
Ludwick was 5-for-10 from downtown in reaching double digits for the second time in the past three games and the San Antonio Reagan High product now has 14 treys over his last three contests. Senior Melvin Smith added nine points, while freshman Devin Gibson dished out eight assists to go along with six points, five rebounds and four steals.
UTSA turned the ball over just 12 times, and held UT Arlington to just 38.1-percent shooting ? well below its 50-percent season average ? but was 8-of-28 from behind the arc and shot just 32.1 percent from the floor and 42.9 percent from the free throw line.
Guignard made three 3-pointers in scoring 13 to lead the Mavs, while Cardell Hunter was 10-for-11 from the free throw line as part of his 12 points. Anthony Vereen scored 10, including a 6-for-7 performance at the charity stripe as UT Arlington made 20-of-27 (74.1 percent) as a team. Jermaine Griffin pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.
The Roadrunners launched 14 3-pointers in the first half, making five in a tightly-contested 20 minutes. Ludwick was 3-for-4 from downtown before having to sit the last 10 minutes due to foul trouble. UTSA took a 25-22 lead into the locker room thanks to a long trey by senior Isaiah Allen at the buzzer.
UTSA increased the lead to 28-22 out of the gate on another Ludwick trey, but the Mavs answered with an 8-0 run over the next 2:49. UTSA quickly tied it at 30-30 on a layup by Allen, but a pair of free throws by Hunter gave the Mavs a lead they would never relinquish.
The Roadrunners cut an eight-point deficit to 46-45 on a pair of Gibson freebies with 3:31 to play, but UT Arlington responded with eight unanswered points and made 6-of-6 from the line in the final 1:11 to hold on for the six-point victory.
The Roadrunners return home to host I-35 rival Texas State at 7 p.m. on Saturday. The UTSA baseball squad will receive its 2007 SLC Championship rings at halftime.