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| Freshman Devin Gibson had 12 points, six assists and five steals on Wednesday night. |
SAN ANTONIO ? Freshman Devin Gibson scored 12 points, but Shamir McDaniel led four Sam Houston State players in double figures with 13, as the Bearkats shot 59.3 percent en route to a 70-54 victory against UTSA on Wednesday night at the Convocation Center.
Gibson posted all 12 of his points in the first half and added six assists and five steals for the Roadrunners (8-12, 2-5 SLC). Senior Isaiah Allen pitched in with nine points, while senior Melvin Smith, junior Joey Shank and freshman Russ Permenter ? in his first start ? contributed seven apiece.
UTSA forced 24 Sam Houston turnovers ? the 12th opponent to commit 20 or more ? and recorded 14 steals but shot only 35.2 percent and were outrebounded, 42-18.
Ryan Bright posted 12 points and a game-high nine rebounds, while John Gardiner and DeLuis Ramirez added 11 and 10 points, respectively. The Bearkats were just 4-of-15 from behind the 3-point line and only 2-of-4 from the free throw line, the first not until the 15:19 mark of the second half, but they dished out 20 assists as a team and scored 52 points in the paint.
Sam Houston State (17-4, 5-3 SLC) broke open a tight first half with a 9-2 run capped by McDaniel trey that gave it a 23-14 lead at the 6:04 mark. The lead grew to 13 on another McDaniel three with 2:49 to play, but UTSA closed the half on a 6-2 run capped by a 3-pointer from senior Andrew Francis to make it 34-25 at the break.
Permenter opened the second half with a layup to make it 34-27, but that was close as UTSA would get the rest of the way , as the Bearkats led by as many as 19 in the 16-point victory.
The Roadrunners travel to Nacogdoches to face Stephen F. Austin at 6 p.m. on Saturday.