MIAMI, Fla. — Lucas O'Brien scored 17 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer in the final seconds, to lift UTSA to a 69-67 win at FIU on Thursday night at FIU Arena.
O'Brien tied a career-high with five triples for the Roadrunners (12-16, 7-8 C-USA), who snapped a three-game skid and secured a spot in the upcoming Conference USA Tournament with the victory. Jeff Beverly added 17 points and seven rebounds to help UTSA shoot 50 percent, its best mark during C-USA play.
The Roadrunners totaled 28 points in the paint and scored 21 points off 13 turnovers.
Meanwhile, Donte McGill paced the Panthers (6-22, 2-13 C-USA) with a game-high 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting. FIU held a 31-26 edge on the glass and shot 46.2 percent in the contest.
UTSA saw its 43-26 halftime lead slowly shrink throughout the second half until McGill's triple with 4:24 left gave the home squad a 63-62 advantage. It was the first lead for the home squad since the 10:04 mark of the first half and it was short-lived as Beverly answered with a layup to set the stage for a tense final four minutes.
Two free throws by Kessens again gave the home squad a one-point edge with 3:25 to play. That's where the score stood until Beverly stole an errant pass and sent a perfect pass ahead to Gino Littles, whose bucket gave the Roadrunners a 66-65 lead with less than a minute remaining.
However, Kessens answered again, this time with a layup in the paint and UTSA called a timeout with 10.7 seconds to play.
Out of the timeout, Giovanni De Nicolao found O'Brien in the corner and the senior buried his fifth trifecta of the night with 4.2 seconds left for a 69-67 lead. The Panthers lost control of the ball near halfcourt and were unable to get a shot off before the buzzer to seal the UTSA win.
Both teams started the game hot from the floor that led to a back-and-forth opening 10 minutes. The contest featured seven ties and six lead changes and FIU held a 21-20 edge following an Elmo Stephens 3-pointer before the Roadrunners went on a 23-2 run to take control of the game.
O'Brien started the avalanche with a pair of free throws before a driving layup from George Willborn III, two more freebies by Littles and a Beverly jumper for a 28-21 advantage. FIU got its only basket during the run, one of just two buckets in the final 10 minutes of the half, only to watch the Roadrunners score the next 15 points for a 43-23 cushion.
Frohnen kept UTSA rolling with a jumper and O'Brien sandwiched a pair of triples around a bucket by Beverly and an Austin Karrer dunk. Frohnen then drove in for another basket and Willborn III polished off the run with a free throw.
FIU scored the final three points of the half, but the Roadrunners took a 43-26 lead to intermission thanks to their second-best shooting half of the season.
UTSA racked up 22 points in the paint and scored 15 points off eight Panthers turnovers during the period, while the visitors committed just two giveaways themselves.
UTSA will play its final road game of the regular season at 6 p.m. on Saturday at Florida Atlantic (9-17, 5-10 C-USA).
