CEDAR CITY, Utah — Ryan Bowie scored a career-high 33 points to help UTSA erase a double-digit first half deficit en route to an 82-79 win at Southern Utah on Saturday night at Centrum Arena.
Bowie, whose previous career high came in last season’s loss to Southern Utah, went 9-of-12 from the floor including 4-of-5 from behind the arc to pace the Roadrunners (1-3). The senior scored 18 points in the second half as the Lewisville native finished with the most points by a Conference USA player this season. In addition, UTSA also got a season-high 18 points from J.R. Harris.
The Roadrunners shot 55.6 percent in the second half and 47.3 percent for the night.
Meanwhile, Travon Langston led the Thunderbirds (0-3), who shot 48.1 percent, with 15 points.
Much like the start of the contest, the teams came out of a 36-36 halftime score and traded buckets early in the final period.
Minutes later, UTSA grabbed a54-50 advantage following an old-fashioned three-point play by Bowie and a 3-pointer from J.R. Harris. The lead slowly grew to as much as 64-56 with 9:48 to play before the Thunderbirds made a run to set the stage for a tense finish.
Southern Utah responded with a 12-3 run to grab a 68-67 lead, but it would prove to be the final lead of the game for the home squad. James Ringholt helped slow the run with a triple from the corner for his first points of the season.
Another three-point play from Harris quickly regained the Roadrunners lead with six minutes to go. Harris extended the lead with a pair of free throws and Austin Karrer came up with an offensive rebound and basket to extend the lead back to 74-68 with four minutes to play.
Southern Utah would not go away and the home squad whittled the Roadrunners’ lead down to one possession in the final two minutes.
A pair of Thunderbirds free throws cut the UTSA lead to 80-79 with 11 seconds remaining, but Bowie answered with a pair and Southern Utah missed two 3-pointers in the closing seconds as the Roadrunners held on for their first win of the campaign.
The team’s traded 3-pointers to start the night, but Southern Utah went on a quick 9-2 run to grab a lead that it would hold for much of the period.
A.J. Hess paced Southern Utah in the early minutes with six of his nine points in the half coming on the first two possessions. In his first action of the season, George Matthews helped put an end to the run with a trey of his own before a bucket by Gino Littles sliced the deficit to 16-12.
Minutes later, another Littles jumper trimmed the Southern Utah lead to 21-16, but the Thunderbirds scored six consecutive points for its largest lead of the half, 27-16.
However, the Roadrunners responded with a 17-5 run to take their first lead of the night.
Bowie ignited the run with a 3-pointer before Nick Allen hit a pair of free throws. Following a Thunderbirds basket, Bowie and Harris hit back-to-back triples and a steal by Littles led to an easy layup for Harris and a 32-31 deficit.
Harris then capped the run with a pair of free throws for a 33-32 advantage.
From there the teams traded baskets once again and they went to halftime tied, 36-36.
UTSA will wrap up play in the Men Who Speak Up Main Event with a pair of games next week, beginning with a 2:30 p.m. (CT) matchup on Monday, Nov. 23, against Central Arkansas (0-3) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.