BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — Senior Devin Gibson scored 14 points and broke UTSA's career free throw record, but it was not enough, as Bowling Green shot 51 percent en route to a 70-59 victory on Thursday night at Anderson Arena.
The Falcons improved to 4-9 on the season in winning the first meeting between the two schools, while the Roadrunners (6-5) dropped their third game in a row.
Gibson led three players in double figures and the Houston native added five rebounds, five assists and a pair of steals. He broke Devin Brown’s free throw record of 478 set from 1998-2002 with his fifth make of the night at the 15:08 mark of the second half.
Freshman Jeromie Hill nearly registered his third double-double with 13 points and nine boards, while sophomore Melvin Johnson III added 10 points.
Bowling Green was 27-of-53 (50.9 percent) from the floor and forced 20 UTSA turnovers to overcome a 12-for-24 night at the free-throw line. The Falcons built a 14-point lead in the second half, but had to hang turn back the Roadrunners down the stretch to earn the victory.
The Falcons held a 30-27 lead at the break, but built a double-digit lead early in the second half. Cold shooting (1-for-5) and seven miscues by the Roadrunners helped Bowling Green open up a 44-30 advantage through the six minutes and 17 seconds.
Johnson III helped UTSA get back into the game by draining a pair of long-range shots and junior Larry Wilkins slashed to the basket on back-to-back possessions as part of a 14-4 run over the next four minutes.
Junior Sei Paye answered an A’uston Calhoun basket with a three and Gibson connected from downtown to knot the score at 50 with just under eight minutes to play, which capped a 20-6 run.
Bowling Green responded with a 10-2 stretch that included the fourth long ball of the night from Jakubowski to push the lead to eight.
Paye drained another trey and Johnson III knocked down a baseline jumper to help get the Roadrunners to within four at 61-57 with 3:15 remaining, but that was as close as they would get the rest of the night. Bowling Green made 5-of-8 from the line and UTSA missed five of its last six shot attempts in the final minutes.
UTSA began the game by knocking down four of its first five shots in building a 9-2 lead. The Roadrunners then went cold against Bowling Green’s 2-3 zone, as they went nearly eight minutes without a field goal before a trey by freshman Jordan Sims at the eight-minute mark made it 20-19 in favor of the Falcons.
Keyed by a pair of 3-pointers from Joe Jakubowski, Bowling Green ended the first half with an 8-5 run and took a 30-27 lead into the locker room.
The Roadrunners committed 10 turnovers and made just 8-of-22 (36.4 percent) from the field, including 1-of-7 from downtown, but were 10-for-12 at the charity stripe in the half.
For the game, UTSA shot 40.4 percent (19-47), including 6-of-20 (30 percent) from downtown, but were held to a season-low 59 points (previous, 67 vs. Tulsa).
The Roadrunners wrap up their road trip at Oklahoma State (11-1) on Monday, Jan. 3. Tip is slated for 7 p.m. at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Okla. The game will be televised by the Cowboy Sports Network and available in the San Antonio area on FOX Sports Southwest.
