SAN ANTONIO — First-year head coach Steve Henson picked up his first career victory behind season highs of 21 and 18 points from Jeff Beverly and Byron Frohnen, respectively, as UTSA defeated Prairie View A&M 69-59 on Saturday night.
Beverly made six shots from the floor and went 9-of-10 from the free-throw line to go along with seven rebounds for the Roadrunners (1-3), who held a 45-31 edge on the glass. Frohnen also added seven boards with his 18 points, while George Willborn III neared double figures with nine points and a season-high six rebounds.
UTSA pounded the ball inside all night and outscored the Panthers (1-3) 42-14 in the paint and held the visitors to just 31.5 percent shooting, including 21.3 percent (6-of-26) in the second half.
Daquan Cook led Prairie View A&M with 12 points, while James Westbrook chipped in 11 points.
Both teams started hot from the floor in the first half and UTSA grabbed an early 9-3 lead on Willborn III's poster dunk over a Panthers defender. The flush capped a 4-of-5 start from the floor for UTSA. Frohnen then scored two of his nine first-half points with a layup before Austin Karrer drove to the hoop for another score and a 16-12 advantage.
The defensive effort on both sides picked up from there, but the Roadrunners benefitted at the free-throw line where they hit 9-of-13 attempts in the half, including six from Beverly.
Frohnen's layup with 5:35 left matched the home squad's largest lead of the half at 25-19, but Prairie View A&M scored the next six points to tie the score and the visitors took a 28-27 lead on a 3-pointer.
However, Gino Littles made a pair of treys late in the shot clock that gave the Roadrunners a 33-30 lead at halftime.
UTSA clamped down defensively in the second half and limited the Panthers to just 23.1 percent shooting over the final 20 minutes. Prairie View A&M made just six shots in the final period, but stayed in the game with 16 makes at the free-throw line.
Ja'Donta Blakley opened the second half with a jumper to pull the Panthers within a point, 33-32, but they would get no closer the rest of the night.
The Roadrunners responded with a pair of baskets from Willborn III and another from Frohnen to extend the lead to 39-32. However, the home squad could not pull away just yet as Prairie View A&M continued to do most of its damage at the charity stripe.
Two freebies by Shaquille Preston with 13:11 to play inched the Panthers within a point, 43-42, but Frohnen followed a missed UTSA shot with a rebound and layup and Giovanni De Nicolao scored inside to pad the advantage.
Preston's jumper with 11:12 to play ended a nearly seven-minute field goal drought for Prairie View A&M and it would convert just two more baskets the rest of the contest.
With the UTSA defense smothering the Panthers' opportunities, the Roadrunners slowly began to pull away. Frohnen nailed a jumper and Littles broke in front of a Prairie View A&M pass for a fast break layup as part of a 10-2 UTSA run for a 59-48 lead, its largest of the night.
The Panthers got within 61-56 with three minutes left on Zachary Hamilton's trey, but the Roadrunners outscored the visitors 8-3 the rest of the way en route to the 69-59 final.
UTSA will take to the road again for a 7 p.m. matchup on Tuesday, Nov. 22, at Lamar (2-1).
