HAMMOND, La. — Senior Devin Gibson scored a season-high 25 points to move into third place on UTSA’s career scoring list, but Brandon Fortenberry and Trent Hutchin combined for 43 to lead Southeastern Louisiana to a 79-73 victory on Wednesday night at the University Center.
With the win, the Lions snapped a three-game losing streak against the Roadrunners and improved to 11-10 overall and 5-4 in the Southland Conference. UTSA fell to 12-10 (5-4 SLC).
Gibson was 9-of-15 from the field and 7-for-8 at the free-throw line en route to his sixth 20-point game of the year and he surpassed Keith Horne for third place as the program's third-leading scorer. The Houston native now has 1,460 career points. He added seven rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals in logging all 40 minutes.
Sophomore Melvin Johnson III and freshman T.J. Williams joined Gibson in double figures. Johnson III scored 14 behind a 4-for-6 night from beyond the 3-point line, while Williams, who was making his second trip of the season to his home state, posted a season high-tying 10 points and six boards. Freshman Jeromie Hill added nine points and a game-high 10 rebounds for UTSA, which shot 46 percent from the floor and made 21-of-24 (87.5 percent) at the line.
Fortenberry had 22 points behind a 7-for-13 effort from the floor and he just missed the league's third triple-double of the season with 10 boards and nine assists. Meanwhile, Hutchin made 6-of-9 from long distance and 5-of-6 from the charity stripe en route to 21 points, as SLU was 11-for-22 from downtown and shot 48.3 percent from the field overall.
In a game that featured 14 lead changes, Southeastern built a double-digit lead in the second half but had to hang on down the stretch for the six-point triumph.
Trailing 72-61 with seven minutes to play, UTSA used a 9-2 run capped by a Hill 3-pointer to pull to within 74-70 with 4:36 remaining.
After a pair of free throws by Gary Dixon put the Lions back up by six, Gibson was fouled and drained two freebies to make it 74-70. Hill was fouled grabbing a rebound off a missed SLU shot and made one of two at the line to make it a three-point contest with 2:06 to go.
David Ndoumba was good from about 10 feet out with 1:32 on the clock to put the Lions up 78-73. The teams then traded turnovers, giving the ball back to UTSA with 40 ticks left. Johnson III had a great look from the right wing but saw his shot rim in and out. Fortenberry secured the rebound and Hutchin was fouled intentionally. He made a free throw to provide the final margin.
UTSA blistered the nets at a 63.2-percent clip in the first half, including 4-of-5 from beyond the arc and also shot 10-for-10 from the line. Johnson III had 11 points in the stanza after draining all three of his long distance attempts, while Franklin and Williams scored eight apiece.
Despite the hot shooting, the Roadrunners held a slim 38-35 lead at the break, as the Lions shot 45.2 percent, including 5-of-10 from downtown. Hutchin was 3-for-5 from behind the 3-point line, while Johnson was 6-for-8 from the floor en route to a dozen points.
Southeastern came out firing in the second half, making nine of their first 10 shots, including five treys. Gary Dixon and Hutchin connected from long distance on back-to-back possessions and Jason Marks got loose underneath for a layup to help give the Lions a 59-52 lead with just under 13 minutes to play.
UTSA used a 6-0 run capped by a Hill basket to pull to within one, and Hill then answered a Fortenberry jumper with a tip-in to make it 61-60 with 9:48 on the clock.
The Lions got hot again, going on an 11-1 run over the next 2:48 in building their largest lead of the game.
The Roadrunners travel to Nacogdoches to face Stephen F. Austin (14-7, 5-4 SLC) at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
