| Senior Travis Gabbidon led UTSA with 13 points and six rebounds on Tuesday night. |
ANNAPOLIS, Md. ? Senior Travis Gabbidon led four Roadrunners in double figures with 13 points, but Navy shot a UTSA opponent-record 71.4 percent from the field, including 16-of-19 (84.2 percent) in the second half and defeated the Roadrunners, 78-65, on Tuesday night at Alumni Hall.
UTSA (2-3) led by as many as 10 points in the first half and held a 36-29 advantage at the break, but the Midshipmen (6-1) rallied behind Kaleo Kina’s 29 points for the win.
Senior Joey Shank (11) and juniors Omar Johnson (12) and Morris Smith IV (11) joined Gabbidon in double figures, while Gabbidon and Johnson ? who both scored at least 10 points for the fifth time this season ? grabbed six and five rebounds, respectively.
Mark Veazey and Chris Harris posted 14 and 12 points, respectively, for Navy, while Veazey and Kina pulled down a game-high seven rebounds apiece. The Midshipmen were 25-of-35, including 7-for-11 on 3-pointers, from the field overall, but neither the 71.4 or 84.2 percentages were school records (game - 73.7; half ? 88.2).
UTSA held Harris (17.0 points per game) scoreless through first 23 minutes, but his first basket knotted the score at 36-all, as the Midshipmen opened the second half on a 9-0 run.
Navy’s lead grew to 46-39 after a long-range jumper by Adam Teague at the 13:27 mark. UTSA’s only basket during the stretch was sophomore A.J. Gasporra’s third trey. The Midshipmen eventually outscored the Roadrunners, 28-8, through the first 10 minutes of the second half behind 9-of-12 shooting.
UTSA cut what was a 13-point Navy lead to nine down the stretch. A Gabbidon layup with just under two minutes to play made it 74-65, but the Roadrunners could not make up ay more ground, as the Midshipmen held on for the 13-point victory.
The Roadrunners, who have registered nine or more 3-pointers in all five games this season, drained 11-of-33 for the game, but converted just 23-of-68 from the floor overall. UTSA did produce 24 points off of 27 Navy turnovers, including four steals by junior Terry Fields.
Neither team had an easy time finding the bottom of the basket early in the game. Navy misfired on its first five field goal attempts, while the Roadrunners made just two of their first nine shots.
UTSA used a pair of threes and held Navy without a field goal through the first five minutes and 50 seconds in building an early 6-3 advantage. The Midshipmen responded with a 5-0 run and the teams traded leads until Gabbidon keyed an 8-0 stretch that helped put the Roadrunners ahead, 21-14, with just over eight minutes to play in the half.
The Roadrunners would lead by as many as 10 in the first stanza and held a 36-29 edge at the break, thanks to a quartet of 3-pointers from Gasporra (two), Smith IV and Johnson.
Despite the cold start and 14 turnovers, Navy shot 56.3 percent (9-16), including 2-of-5 from downtown, in the half. UTSA was 8-of-18 (44.4 percent) from behind the arc, but made just three of its other 10 attempts.
The Roadrunners will face Rice at 7 p.m. on Thursday in Houston.