| Senior Omar Johnson doubled his previous career best with six 3-pointers on Wednesday night. |
RICHMOND, Ky. — Senior Omar Johnson and junior Devin Gibson combined for 10 of UTSA’s season-high 13 3-pointers, but Justin Stommes dropped in one of his own with 12 seconds left to lift Eastern Kentucky to a come-from-behind 74-72 victory on the final day of the O’Reilly Auto Parts College Basketball Experience Classic Richmond Subregional at McBrayer Arena.
The Roadrunners (4-1) led by as many as 15 and held a 62-50 advantage with less than eight minutes to play before the Colonels (4-1) stormed back in the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
A long three from the right wing by Johnson put the Roadrunners on top by 12 with just under eight minutes remaining, but the Colonels put together an 8-0 spurt to make it a four-point game. Johnson again answered the call, dropping in treys on back-to-back possessions to give the Roadrunners a 68-60 advantage with 4:21 left on the clock before EKU made its final run.
Stommes converted a pair of free throws, came up with a steal and drained a jumper to pull EKU to within four. Another turnover led to a foul and a pair of freebies for Josh Taylor to make it 68-66 with two minutes to play.
After a pair of Gibson free throws and a Stommes jumper made it 70-68, Joshua Jones gave EKU its first lead since early in the first half with a three-ball from the left corner with 55 ticks remaining.
Senior Terry Fields quickly gave UTSA the lead right back with a slashing layup from the right side 15 seconds later, but Stommes, who led the Colonels with 17 points, answered with a long three from the top of the key with 12 seconds on the clock.
UTSA did have a couple of last-second chances under the basket but could not get either attempt to fall.
The Roadrunners saw their non-conference winning streak come to an end at 10 games, but still matched the best five-game start in school history with their 4-1 record.
Johnson was 6-for-10 from behind the arc en route to scoring a season-high 18 points, while Gibson equaled his career high with four treys in also scoring a game-high 18. Gibson also dished out seven assists and grabbed seven rebounds, and the Cy-Falls High product was 6-for-6 from the free throw line, making him 31-for-32 on the season. Senior Morris Smith IV scored 14, while Fields posted nine points and seven rebounds.
UTSA was 13-of-24 (54.2%) from downtown and shot 45.5 percent (25-55) from the field and 81.8 percent (9-11) from the charity stripe. The Roadrunners also out-rebounded the Colonels, 33-25.
Gibson scored 11 of his points in the first, including draining three of UTSA’s eight 3-pointers in the half. The Roadrunners blistered the nets at a 55.6-percent (15-28) clip overall, while limiting the Colonels to just 2-of-12 (16.7%) from downtown.
The Roadrunners erased an early 12-6 deficit with a 16-4 run keyed by a pair of 3-pointers from Gibson and another rainmaker from Johnson. The Colonels pulled back to within 24-20 on a Papa Oppong layup at the 6:52 mark, but UTSA used the long ball to again build the lead back to double digits at the break, 41-28.
UTSA extended its lead to 15 points early in the second half after Smith IV went to the hole to make it 48-33, but EKU reeled off 11 unanswered points, the last three on a Stommes trey from the right wing, to pull to within four with 13:18 to play.
Oppong (14), Jones (12) and Spencer Perrin (11) joined Stommes in double figures for EKU, while Taylor grabbed a game-best 10 rebounds to go with his nine points. The Colonels were 9-for-23 on 3-pointers, including 7-of-11 in the second half, and shot 50 percent (28-56) from the floor overall.
The Roadrunners return home to host Texas Southern at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.
2009 O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic Richmond Subregional All-Tournament Team
Justin Stommes, Eastern Kentucky (MVP)
Sean Baptiste, Fairleigh Dickinson
Devin Gibson, UTSA
Josh Taylor, Eastern Kentucky
Eric Wise, UC Irvine