EL PASO, Texas -- Playing with just six scholarship players, UTSA men's basketball put up a scrappy effort but narrowly missed pulling off the upset as UTEP was able to outlast the Roadrunners 69-64 on Thursday night at the Don Haskins Center.
UTSA (7-12, 0-6 Conference USA) got off to a hot start, making its first seven shots, building a 13-point lead late in the first half and finishing the first stanza on a 13-2 run for an 11-point lead.
UTEP responded out of the break, scoring 15 of the first 20 points and nailing 7 of its first 11 3-pointers in the half to build a nine-point lead with seven minutes left in the game. The Miners were able regain the lead with 12 minutes left.
Trailing 66-64 with 36 seconds left, UTSA had a chance to tie the game but the hook shot in the paint just rimmed out. The Miners were able to get a key bucket from Souley Boum on the other end for a two-possession game and held on for the five-point win, boosted by a 42-26 margin in the final half.
The Roadrunners were limited to six scholarship players with just seven seeing action as four UTSA regulars missed the trip due to COVID-19 Health & Safety Protocols.
UTSA was led by junior center Jacob Germany, a 6-foot-11 native of Kingston, Okla. Germany finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds.
Darius McNeill, who played a career-high 40 minutes for the first time in his career, had a season-high 19 points with five rebounds.
Erik Czumbel joined McNeill as Roadrunners to play the full 40 minutes, going for a career-high eight assists and adding six rebounds.. Six Roadrunners set career highs in minutes played, including Lachlan Bofinger, Phoenix Ford, Isaiah Addo-Ankrah and Lamin Sabally. Addo-Ankrah had a career-high nine points on three 3-pointers and Ford finished with a career high 11 points and five rebounds.
UTSA owned a margin in total rebounds, 41-28, finished shooting 49.1 percent while holding UTEP (10-8, 3-3 C-USA) to 42 percent. Boum led the Miners with 22 points with Jorell Saterfield pouring in six 3-pointers for a 20-point game.
The Roadrunners will host the Miners on Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Convocation Center. The game will be live on CUSA TV and Ticket 760 AM, with the Voice of the Roadrunners, Andy Everett, calling the action.
McNeill got UTSA on the board with a take to the rim on the first possession and after UTEP answered Sabally finished on a baseline drive. UTEP made one of two free throws and then the Roadrunners ripped off eight straight points, getting three consecutive buckets from Germany, including a transition dunk, and a Phoenix Ford drive to the rim for a 12-3 lead.
Czumbel answered a pair of UTEP baskets with a strong take to the rim late in the shot clock for a 14-7 lead. Addo-Ankrah came off the bench and drilled a wing 3-pointer to take the lead to 17-9 but the Miners immediately answered with a triple of their own.
Ford took the lead to 19-12 with his second basket and McNeill responded to a UTEP triple from Saterfield with a transition finish. After a pair of UTEP buckets, Germany notched his eighth points of the game to own a 23-20 lead at the under-eight media timeout.
McNeill's two at the line were answered by three at the line from Boum and UTEP evened the game at 25. Germany regained the lead with a midrange jumper for a 27-25 lead with five minutes left in the first. UTSA's run continued to 7-0 with a second triple from Addo-Ankrah and a McNeill finish in transition.
The run continued to 13-0 as UTSA built a 38-25 lead, getting a pair of buckets at the rim from Germany and a base-line drive from McNeill. UTSA owned a 38-27 lead at the break, shooting 65 percent from the field, with seven assists on 17 buckets. UTEP was held to 33 percent, with UTSA owning a 20-10 margin in rebounds. Germany led UTSA with 14 points, while McNeill chipped in 10.
UTEP scored seven of the first eight points out of the half to cut the lead to 39-34 and force a timeout from Coach Steve Henson. Germany snapped a 7-0 run at the charity stripe, hitting one of two for a 40-34 lead.
Addo-Ankrah drilled a corner triple, his third of the game, to build a 43-36 lead but UTEP's Saterfield sank 3-pointers on consecutive trips down the court to cut the lead to 43-42 with 13:18 left in regulation. McNeill sank a 3-pointer out of the timeout but Saterfield answered on the other end with his fourth triple to cut the led to one.
After a UTSA shooting foul allowed Tydus Verhoeven to make two at the line for a one-point UTEP lead, Oklahoma transfer Jamal Bieniemy was called for a technical at the under-12 minute media timeout and McNeill sank both at the line to regain the one-point lead.
McNeill's floater cut the lead to 51-50 but it was answered by a UTEP triple. Germany responded with a hook shot to cut the lead to two but the Miners nailed 3-pointers on consecutive trips to build a 60-52 lead with 7:25 left in regulation.
Trailing by nine, Ford went to work, with baskets in the paint on three consecutive trips, sandwiched around a UTEP bucket, to narrow the lead to 63-58 with 4:29 left. After a pair at the line from Bieniemy, Germany flushed a dunk to cut the lead to five with four minutes remaining.
McNeill sank a free-throw line jumper with 2:15 left to cut the lead to 65-62. On an in-bounds pass from under the basket, UTSA got Germany to the line with 1:33 left. He hit one to cut the lead to 65-63.
UTEP got the defensive stop and regained possession with 36 seconds left, leading 65-63 and Boum sank a runner with 15 seconds left for a 67-63 lead. Ford was fouled on the other end with 6.2 seconds left. He missed the first of two free throws and Henson called his final timeout. Ford made his last free throw to cut the lead to 67-64. Boum hit two at the line for a 69-64 lead and a final score.
- UTSA -
