SAN ANTONIO — Jeff Beverly scored a game-high 24 points and senior Lucas O'Brien hit five 3-pointers en route to 17 of his own to lead UTSA to a 73-55 victory against Old Dominion on Saturday afternoon at the Convocation Center in the regular-season finale for both squads.
Beverly went 9-of-17 from the floor and hit all six of his free throws to record his 10th game of at least 20 points for the Roadrunners (13-18, 8-10 C-USA), who finished 11-3 at home for their most victories in the Convo since the 2010-11 team also recorded 11 wins.
O'Brien hit five triples for the third time this season, while Gino Littles added three on his way to 13 points and Byron Frohnen chipped in with 11. UTSA went a perfect 19-for-19 at the free-throw line for its best outing since hitting all 22 freebies in a win over San Jose State back in 2011.
With the victory, UTSA has earned the No. 9 seed in next week's Conference USA Tournament in Birmingham, Ala. The Roadrunners will learn their opponent and game time for Wednesday's first round matchup following the conclusion of today's C-USA games.
Meanwhile, B.J. Stith paced the Monarchs (19-11, 12-6 C-USA) with 13 points and Trey Porter added 12 points. Old Dominion was limited to just 32.8 percent shooting and it became the eighth opponent that UTSA has held to fewer than 60 points this season.
Both teams started out hot in the game's opening minutes. UTSA hit three of its first five shots from behind the arc, including a pair from O'Brien, for an early 13-6 advantage.
O'Brien hit another triple before baskets by Littles and Beverly and a three-point play from Frohnen helped the Roadrunners grab a 27-21 lead. UTSA did much of its damage at the free-throw line down the stretch in the first half as the home squad connected six times in the final three minutes.
Frohnen's free throws in the final minute helped extend the UTSA lead to 35-31 at halftime.
The Roadrunners wasted little time in extending their halftime advantage with a 9-2 run to open the second half for a 44-33 lead.
Beverly scored six of the team's nine points during the stretch, while O'Brien knocked down his fourth triple of the contest. The Roadrunners, who limited the Monarchs to just 30 percent shooting over the final 20 minutes, held at least a seven-point advantage the rest of the afternoon.
UTSA went on an 8-0 run midway through the half for a 58-43 lead and the home squad squashed any hopes of a comeback by Old Dominion with three 3-pointers in the final four minutes that helped put the game away.
Littles sandwiched two triples around O'Brien's final trey in the Convocation Center that ballooned the lead to 71-53 with 2:36 remaining. Beverly then put the exclamation point on the victory with a dunk for the final 73-55 margin.
O'Brien and fellow senior J.R. Harris were honored in a pregame ceremony with head coach Steve Henson and Director of Athletics Lynn Hickey. Harris, who has missed 24 games this season due to injury, got the start and grabbed the opening tip before checking out of the contest to a standing ovation.
