| Senior Demarco Stepter led UTSA with a career-high 17 points on Friday night. |
EDINBURG — Senior Demarco Stepter made the most of his first career start with a game-high 17 points and UTSA won at UTPA Fieldhouse for the first time in 12 years with a 72-48 victory Friday night.
The Roadrunners improved to 8-2, marking the best 10-game start since 1989 and also were victorious for the first time in Edinburg since a 96-67 decision 12 years ago to the day. The Broncs fell to 1-11 in what was just their second home game of the season.
Starting at center for the injured Josh Bonney, Stepter scored 13 of his 17 points in the first half and was 8-for-10 from the floor overall in bettering his previous career high of 15 against UMKC last December.
Junior Devin Gibson joined Stepter in double figures with 12 points and he added four rebounds, four assists and three steals. Senior Terry Fields posted nine points and matched senior Leslie Jackson with a team-high six rebounds, while seniors Chris Allen and Omar Johnson scored nine apiece.
UTSA shot 46.6 percent (27-58) from the field, including 6-of-16 from behind the 3-point line and tied the school record with just five turnovers.
UTSA stormed out of the gates to a 7-0 advantage and eventually built a 23-2 lead eight minutes into the contest by making 10 of its first 14 shot attempts. Stepter and senior Morris Smith IV tallied six points apiece during the quick start, while the defense held the Broncs to just one field goal in nine attempts during the span.
UTPA climbed back to within 14 points at 30-16 on a Manny Hendrix dunk at the 4:41 mark, but would get no closer the rest of the half as the Roadrunners took a 37-18 lead into the locker room.
The Roadrunners increased their lead to 45-20 early in the second half. It grew to as large as 33 points, as the outcome was never in doubt in UTSA’s 17th victory in the last 21 non-conference games.
ChaRunn Jones and Aaron Urbanus led UTPA with eight points each, while Matt Mierzycki grabbed a game-best nine rebounds. The Broncs shot just 38.5 percent, including 6-of-27 from downtown.
The Roadrunners continue their three-game road trip at Colgate at 7 pm Sunday, Dec. 20.