| Junior Josh Bonney recorded his first double-double as a Roadrunner on Wednesday night. |
THIBODAUX, La. ? Junior Josh Bonney made the most of his homecoming to southern Louisiana, recording his first double-double in a UTSA uniform to help the Roadrunners extend their winning streak to seven games with a 62-55 victory over Nicholls in Southland Conference action Wednesday night at Stopher Gym.
Bonney, who prepped at nearby White Castle High School, posted season highs of 15 points and 13 rebounds to help the Roadrunners move to 10-4 on the season and 2-0 in SLC play for the first time since the 2001-02 campaign. Junior Omar Johnson led all Roadrunners with 17 points behind a 7-for-9 night at the free throw line, while sophomore Devin Gibson and senior Joey Shank contributed 13 and 11, respectively.
The seven-game winning streak is the longest in the SLC this season and the best for UTSA since the 2003-04 squad won seven straight. The Roadrunners also have won four of their last five road games and beat the Colonels (8-7, 1-1 SLC) for the 12th time in the last 13 meetings, including six in a row at Stopher Gym.
UTSA forced 20 turnovers and out-rebounded the Colonels, 40-31, to help overcome a 33.3-percent night shooting the ball, including just 6-of-27 (22.2 percent) from downtown. Nicholls, which went 0-for-10 from behind the 3-point line, was led by Anatoly Bose’s 19 points. Ryan Bathie added 18 points and nine rebounds.
“It’s fun to coach a team that fights as hard as this one does,” head coach Brooks Thompson said. “The 3-pointer wasn’t going down, but we kept fighting through that and Josh just had a tremendous night inside for us. It’s really tough to win on the road in this league and Nicholls is a tough team to defend, but our guys battled through some adversity and were able to hit get some key stops down the stretch.”
UTSA held a slim 26-24 lead at the half behind nine points and six rebounds from Bonney. The Roadrunners used a 7-0 run to grab an 18-10 advantage with just under eight minutes to play in the first, but the Colonels cut the deficit to two with a late 13-8 run. Despite going 0-for-5 from behind the arc, Nicholls shot 50 percent from the field, while UTSA hit at a 40-percent clip.
The Colonels took their first lead since 4-2 on a pair of Fred Hunter free throws at the 17:16 mark of the second half. Bose converted a 3-point play and made 2-of-3 free throws after being fouled on a 3-point attempt to give Nicholls a 37-32 with just under 14 minutes on the clock. Bathie then drained a pair of freebies to hand the Colonels their largest lead of the game, 43-35, with 9:18 to play.
The Roadrunners used suffocating full-court pressure defense to spark a 13-2 run and get back into the game. Shank dropped in a long ball from the left wing to make it a 3-point contest and Johnson struck from downtown two possessions later following a Shank steal to knot the score at 45-all. Gibson then made 1-of-2 free throws to put UTSA back on top, 46-45, and later banked in a floater from the left side of the lane to make it 48-45 with 4:42 remaining.
Senior forward Travis Gabbidon, who had 10 rebounds, knocked down a long three from the top of the key and Johnson came up with a huge steal and was fouled on his layup. His free throw was good and gave UTSA a 54-49 advantage with 2:24 to play.
Nicholls pulled to within three on a Bathie layup, but Bonney, Shank and Johnson combined to go 8-for-8 from the line in the final minute to seal the win.
The Roadrunners return home to host UT Arlington at 7 p.m. on Saturday. The baseball squad will be presented with their 2008 SLC Championship rings at halftime.