| Sophomore Devin Gibson led four players in double figures with 17 points. |
SAN ANTONIO ? Sophomore Devin Gibson led four Roadrunners in double figures with 17 points and UTSA secured a spot in the Southland Conference Tournament with a 79-72 victory over Lamar on Saturday night before a season-high 3,128 fans at the Convocation Center.
The Roadrunners improved to 17-10 overall and secured a top-eight finish by running their league ledger to 8-6. McNeese State’s 80-75 overtime loss to Nicholls earlier Saturday gave the league four teams with nine or more losses. The Cardinals saw their three-game winning streak snapped in falling to 15-13 and 6-8.
Gibson was 5-for-8 from the floor ? including 2-of-3 from behind the 3-point line ? and converted 5-of-6 from the free throw line in leading the Roadrunners in scoring for the third time in the past four games. The NCAA steals leader also registered a pair of thefts to go along with four rebounds and two assists.
Juniors Morris Smith IV (14) and Omar Johnson (11) and senior Joey Shank (11) joined Gibson in double figures, while Smith IV and junior Leslie Jackson shared the team lead with six rebounds apiece.
Ashton Hall led all players with 21 points for Lamar, while Anthony Miles posted a double-double of 15 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
The Roadrunners had to rally from a double-digit deficit in the second half in bettering their home record to 11-2 on the season.
A 3-pointer by Miles and a Jay Brown layup gave Lamar a 52-42 advantage with 14:42 to play. That capped a 16-3 run for the Cards to open the second stanza.
UTSA reeled off the next five points on a layup from junior Demarco Stepter and a Johnson trey and eventually made it a one-point game after a free throw from junior Josh Bonney at the midway point of the half.
Miles answered the call with a jumper to push the Lamar lead to 58-55, but Smith IV drained one from downtown and Bonney got the crowd going by slamming home an alley-oop pass from senior Travis Gabbidon to give the Roadrunners a two-point lead with 7:44 to play.
Gabbidon threw down a dunk off a missed jumper to push the UTSA advantage to 71-64 with 3:16 on the clock, but Lamar would not give up.
Brandon McThay converted a 3-point play to pull the Cards to within four and Lamar still trailed by only two baskets after a Coy Custer layup with 21 ticks remaining made it 73-69.
Forced to foul, Lamar hacked Johnson and Smith IV, who made all four freebies, before Hall made a 3-pointer with seven seconds left to make it 77-72. Gibson was fouled after receiving a long inbound pass and made the final two from the charity stripe for the final margin.
Lamar had the hot hand early, making its first seven shots in building a 15-5 lead.
UTSA would climb back to within three on a Jackson jumper and Smith IV knotted the score at 21-all on three. The Roadrunners eventually built a five-point lead late in the first and held a 39-36 advantage at the break.
Despite the hot start, Lamar shot 46 percent from the floor, but made just 4-of-19 from behind the arc. Meanwhile, UTSA shot at a 48.1-percent clip and made 9-of-19 from downtown and 20-of-25 from the free throw line.
The Roadrunners protected the basketball, committing a season low-tying seven turnovers, and they forced nine, six of those on steals. UTSA also got 30 points from its bench.
The Roadrunners travel to San Marcos to face Texas State at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 4.