| SLC Freshman of the Year Devin Gibson tied his career high with 27 points on Thursday night. |
KATY ? Freshman Devin Gibson matched his career-high with 27 points, but Matt Kingsley posted 26 and 11 rebounds, as Stephen F. Austin used a strong second half to eliminate UTSA from the Southland Conference Tournament, 71-60, on Thursday night at the Merrell Center.
The Roadrunners end their season at 13-17, while the top-seeded Lumberjacks moved to 26-4.
Gibson was 10-of-17 from the floor, including 2-for-3 from behind the 3-point line, en route to matching his previous high scoring output in the overtime victory at Texas State. It marked his eighth 20-point game of the season, the fourth in the past nine contests, and he led the Roadrunners in scoring for the 16th time on the year The SLC Freshman of the Year also added five rebounds, four assists and a steal in 37 minutes of action.
Senior Isaiah Allen added eight points, while senior Keith Spencer posted a half dozen points and team-high six rebounds. UTSA shot 55 percent (22-of-40) and was 8-of-15 from downtown for the game.
However, SFA turned 19 offensive rebounds into 23 second-chance points and outscored the Roadrunners, 45-29, in the second half in the comeback victory. Gerald Fonzie joined Kingsley in double figures with 19 behind five 3-pointers, while SLC Player of the Year Josh Alexander was held to just nine, 7.5 below his average.
UTSA made just 2-of-15 from downtown in the last meeting with SFA five days ago, but freshman JohnMark Ludwick drained the second of the game for the Roadrunners at the 12:10 mark to give them an early 14-7 lead. Gibson drained two more treys and a baseline jumper to push the lead to 22-17 lead with just under seven minutes to play in the half.
Gibson left the game briefly after re-injuring his ankle at the 4:48 mark, but returned in the final minute and hit another jumper, giving him 15 points in the half and UTSA a 31-26 advantage at the break.
The Roadrunners were 4-of-5 from downtown and 12-for-18 (66.7%) from the floor overall in the half, meanwhile limiting the Lumberjacks to just 10-of-28 (35.7%) shooting.
SFA scored the first five points in the second half to quickly knot the score at 31-all. The teams traded leads until the Jacks went on a 10-3 run capped by a Fonzie trey at the 8:14 mark to push SFA ahead, 51-44.
The Lumberjacks pushed the lead to 65-54 after a pair of Nick Shaw free throws with 3:36 remaining, but UTSA cut the deficit to 67-60 on a Gibson layup with 38 ticks left. The Roadrunners were forced to foul and SFA made 4-of-4 from the line down the stretch to hold on for the 11-point win.