SAN ANTONIO — Ryan Bowie recorded his 14th game of at least 20 points, but Alex Hamilton scored a game-high 25 points to lead visiting Louisiana Tech to an 87-74 win over UTSA on Thursday night in the Convocation Center.
Bowie finished with 20 points to go along with five rebounds, while Lucas O’Brien added a career-high 18 points to lead the Roadrunners (4-23, 2-12 C-USA). Christian Wilson chipped in with 15 points and a career-high-tying seven assists and Phillip Jones, making his first start of the season, scored 10 points.
Meanwhile, Hamilton hit 10 of his 11 shots en route to his game-high total for the Bulldogs (20-6, 9-4 C-USA), who won their third consecutive game. Merrill Holden neared a double-double with 18 points and nine rebounds and Derric Jean added 16 points off the bench for the visitors, who shot 60.4 percent and totaled 50 points in the paint.
O’Brien led the UTSA offense in the early minutes as he scored nine of the team’s first 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting. The junior was aided by a pair of Wilson’s five first-half assists on pick-and-roll plays to the basket.
Bowie’s first triple of the night knotted the score at 14 and the Roadrunners grabbed a 20-18 advantage following a trey and old-fashioned three-point play from Wilson.
However, the Roadrunners cooled after their hot start and were held without a point for four minutes. The Bulldogs used the drought to reclaim a 23-20 lead and they would not trail for the rest of the night.
A layup and 3-pointer from Hamilton, who finished the half with 15 points, gave the visitors a 37-30 advantage. An offensive rebound and layup by Phillip Jones followed by a Nick Allen fast-break layup sliced the deficit to three and force a Louisiana Tech timeout.
However, the Bulldogs were able to stretch the lead to 41-34 at intermission and they opened the second half with three straight baskets to jump ahead 47-34.
Louisiana Tech scored the first six points of the second half to force a UTSA timeout and the Bulldogs rattled off a 15-2 run minutes later to grab a 64-40 lead, their largest of the night.
With seven minutes to play, Hamilton found Holden for a dunk and the big man was quickly whistled for a technical foul. Following the infraction, the Roadrunners offense went on a 19-4 run over the next five minutes to pull within 78-70.
Bowie started the spurt with a pair of free throws before O’Brien drained a 3-pointer. A Wilson steal set up another basket and Bowie followed another Holden dunk with a four-point play.
Jones added four points during the stretch, which ended on Bowie’s jumper with 2:01 to play.
The Roadrunners would get no closer, as Jacobi Boykins responded with a layup and Louisiana Tech hit five free throws in the final minute to seal the 87-74 win.
UTSA will close its home schedule at 3 p.m. on Saturday against Southern Miss (7-17, 4-9 C-USA). The Roadrunners will honor Bowie prior to the contest as part of Senior Day festivities.