| Senior Travis Gabbidon had a double-double of 16 points and a dozen rebounds in his final home game. |
SAN ANTONIO ? Seniors Travis Gabbidon and Joey Shank combined for 24 points in their final game at the Convocation Center, but Josh Alexander poured in 21 to help Stephen F. Austin hold off UTSA, 66-62, on Saturday night before 2,025 fans.
Gabbidon posted his fifth double-double of the season with 16 points and 12 rebounds, while Shank sank a pair of 3-pointers en route to eight points for the Roadrunners, who fell to 17-12 overall and 8-8 in the Southland Conference.
Alexander scored 21, including 6-of-6 from the free throw line in the final minute to help SFA (21-7) seal its second consecutive regular season championship with a 13-3 league ledger. Kingley added 19 points and a game-high 14 rebounds for the Lumberjacks.
Trailing by four with under a minute remaining, sophomore Devin Gibson ? who finished with nine points and five boards ? converted a driving layup to pull the Roadrunners to within 58-56 with 49 ticks on the clock.
Eric Bell quickly answered with a layup, but Gabbidon drained a 3-pointer from the wing to make it a one-point game with 15 seconds to play.
Forced to foul, UTSA put Alexander on the line where he converted both after an 0-2 start at the charity stripe.
Now armed with a three-point lead, SFA then chose to foul Johnson, who made both free throws to make it 62-61 with under 10 seconds to play.
The next two possessions saw the same result, as Alexander was fouled and made two freebies and Gibson was hacked to go to the line. He made the first but missed the second, but Gabbidon grabbed the offensive board and missed an off-balance jumper from the baseline with the clock winding down. Alexander got the rebound and made two free throws with under three seconds to play to secure the win.
UTSA trailed, 14-6, early in the first half, but used a 9-0 run over a five-minute span to take a 15-14 lead. Gabbidon made a pair of free throws to make it 23-18 with just under four minutes to play and Shank drained a long 3-pointer from the top of the key with 1:06 to play for the 26-21 halftime score.
SFA began the second half on a 14-3 run in building a 35-29 lead. UTSA battled back to knot the score at 39-all on a pair of Shank freebies.
Neither team led by more three points until Walt Harris drained a jumper with five minutes to play to put the Jacks up, 52-48. The Roadrunners fought back to tie it on a Gabbidon layup and took a 54-52 lead on a jumper by Omar Johnson, who finished with a dozen points.
Nick Shaw made one of two free throws, Kingsley hit a short jumper in the lane and Shaw drained a 3-pointer from the corner to put SFA back up by four, 58-54, to set up the final minute.
The Roadrunners will be the No. 6 seed for the State Farm Southland Conference Tournament and will face third-seeded Sam Houston State at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 12.