SAN ANTONIO — Senior Devin Gibson led three UTSA players in double figures with 18 points, but Jordan Glynn’s double-double and a strong second half helped Stephen F. Austin score a 68-59 victory on Saturday night at the Convocation Center.
Glynn registered 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor and an 8-for-9 night at the free-throw line and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds to help the Lumberjacks run their record to 11-4 overall and 2-1 in the Southland Conference.
Gibson scored 14 of his 18 after halftime, but it was not enough to overcome SFA’s 57.7-percent shooting (15-for-26), as the Lumberjacks outscored the Roadrunners (7-8, 1-2 SLC), 43-30, after the break.
Sophomore Melvin Johnson III and freshman Jeromie Hill scored 11 points apiece and junior Larry Wilkins pulled down a team-high seven boards for UTSA, which shot 45.7 percent but struggled at the charity stripe (68.4 percent).
Johnson III had the hot hand early, as he scored seven of the first nine points of the game to help stake the Roadrunners to a 9-0 lead. UTSA held a 15-6 advantage before Stephen F. Austin climbed back to within three behind a 6-0 run, all at the free throw line.
The Roadrunners led throughout the first half and for the first four minutes of the second until a Desmon Haymon layup knotted the score at 31-all.
The Lumberjacks opened up a 37-33 advantage behind a pair of Jereal Scott baskets, but UTSA responded with a 6-0 stretch behind a pair of jumpers from Gibson and a layup by freshman T.J. Williams to go up, 39-37.
Gibson struck again to give UTSA a 41-40 lead at the 9:05 mark, but that would be the last lead the Roadrunners would hold. SFA scored eight straight points over the next three minutes to open up a seven-point cushion.
UTSA got to within 53-50 after a pair of free throws by senior Alex Vouyoukas with 4:50 to play, but SFA pulled away from there.
A 3-pointer from the corner by Dion Prewster with 1:30 to play was the final dagger, as it gave the Lumberjacks a 64-53 lead.
Haymon (15) and Prewster (13) joined Glynn in double figures for SFA, which scored 28 points in the paint (18 in second half), and it was 20-of-26 at the line.
The Roadrunners will travel to Natchitoches, La., to face Northwestern State (10-8, 2-1 SLC) in a 7 p.m. contest on Wednesday, Jan. 19.
