| Senior Isaiah Allen scored 13 points on Saturday in his final game at the Convocation Center. |
SAN ANTONIO ? Senior Isaiah Allen and freshman Devin Gibson combined for 30 points, but Stephen F. Austin held off a furious second-half rally for a 58-52 win against UTSA on Saturday afternoon at the Convocation Center.
The Roadrunners (13-16, 7-9 SLC) will enter next week's Southland Conference Tournament as the No. 8 seed and will play the Lumberjacks (25-4, 13-3) at 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 13, at the Merrell Center in Katy. Lamar’s 83-73 loss at Southeastern Louisiana gave SFA a share of the regular season crown and the No. 1 seed by virtue of its head-to-win against the Cardinals.
Gibson, playing on a sprained ankle, scored 17 points and nearly had his third double-double of the year with a game-high nine rebounds, five assists and five steals. He was 11-for-16 from the free throw line and played all 40 minutes. Allen posted 13 points on the strength of a 6-for-6 effort at the charity stripe, while senior Keith Spencer registered nine points and six boards.
UTSA, playing without the services of juniors Travis Gabbidon (foot), Orrin Greer (knee), Omar Johnson (leg) and Joey Shank (ankle), used a big run in each half to negate double-digit deficits and bring it down to the wire.
An Eric Bell 3-pointer and a Kingsley layup gave SFA a 49-34 lead midway through the second half. UTSA responded with eight unanswered points to get within 49-42 with just over seven minutes left.
Both teams went scoreless over the next four minutes until a pair of Gibson free throws at the 3:18 mark cut the SFA lead to five. Spencer blocked a shot by Bell to start a fast break that ended in a layup by senior Melvin Smith, capping a 12-0 run and pulling UTSA to within 49-46 with just under three minutes remaining.
The Lumberjacks answered with four straight points from Matt Kingsley to make it a six-point game with 54 seconds left. Gibson converted a layup 12 ticks later, but Gerald Fonzie, Eddie Williams and Kingsley combined to go 5-of-6 from the line in the waning seconds to hold on for the 58-52 win.
“Our guys battled today,” head coach Brooks Thompson said. “We had good looks and the shots weren’t falling, but we never gave up. That effort shows what kind of heart and character we have on this team and I really have to take my hat off to the way our guys played today against a very good team.”
A 14-0 run over four minutes capped by a layup from junior Antoine Dade erased what was an early 14-4 deficit and gave the Roadrunners an 18-14 advantage. A Scott Weaver trey at the 8:34 mark put SFA up, 19-18, a lead the Lumberjacks would extend to 36-29 at the break.
UTSA outrebounded the Jacks, 10-3, on the offensive glass and forced 14 turnovers ? eight of those steals ? but shot just 30.0 percent for the game, including 24.1 in the second half. The Roadrunners were 20-of-26 from the free throw line, but made just 2-of-15 from behind the 3-point line.
Meanwhile, SFA shot 54.5 percent in the first half and 45 percent for the game, including seven treys, and were led in scoring by Kingsley (17), Fonzie (12) and Josh Alexander (11).
Prior to the game, UTSA honored its four senior players ? Allen, Andrew Francis, Melvin Smith and Spencer ? and its four senior student managers ? Pete Arguello, Josh Maldonado, Nick Sanchez and Steven Salinas.
“Our seniors have laid a great foundation for this program,” Thompson said. “I hope I am lucky enough to honor four guys like we did today every year for as long as I am coaching.”
Tickets for the SLC Tournament are on sale by calling the UTSA Ticket Office at 210/458-8872.