SAN ANTONIO – Jacob Germany churned out his second-straight double-double performance on Monday night as UTSA beat cross-town school UIW 68-62 in the first-ever meeting between the two San Antonio programs.
UTSA (5-3) snapped a two-game skid, capping off the 210 San Antonio Shootout with a win in the tournament finale over the Cardinals. UIW (4-4) lost its first game of the weekend competition having defeated both Dartmouth and Grambling State in the first two games of the tourney before falling to the Roadrunners.
Germany's performance, a 15-point, 11-rebound effort, was his second-straight double-double and powered the Roadrunners past the Cardinals. Tonight was Germany's third straight game putting up double-figure boards. John Buggs III had a bounce-back game as the sophomore guard poured in 14 points on 4-6 shooting from downtown. Fellow newcomer Japhet Medor was the third Roadrunner in double-figure scoring as the Wellington, Fla. native had 11 points, three boards and three assists while knocking down a career-high two triples. Fellow starters Isaiah Addo-Ankrah and DJ Richards had strong nights on the glass as they had eight and six boards respectively. Addo-Ankrah's eight rebounds were a career-high, surpassing his previous best of six last year against FIU. Addo-Ankrah also had a career-high four assists.
The Rundown
UTSA began the game with its fourth different starting lineup of the season as the freshman Richards made his first career start on the evening. Richards picked up two quick fouls as UTSA struggled to gain early momentum. The Cardinals built their largest lead of the game (12-8) with 13:34 remaining in the half. From there, UTSA gained the lead after a Josh Farmer jumper, some Addo-Ankrah free throws and an Erik Czumbel lay-in. The Roadrunners continued to keep the Cardinals at arm's length until the three-minute mark when UIW made a mini-run and retook the lead, 23-22. It didn't last long though as UTSA regained control and finished the first half on a 10-3 run. At the end of the first half, Germany had six points while both Buggs and Czumbel had five.
UTSA started to extend its lead in the second, quickly pushing the score to 40-30 thanks to a Japhet Medor step back three-pointer. UIW didn't fold however as the Cardinals rattled off a 14-2 run to retake the lead thanks to a couple of live ball turnovers which they converted on the other end. UTSA quickly regained a 45-44 lead off of Medor's second three-ball only to see it snatched back by UIW, 46-45. Back-to-back threes from Buggs and Addo-Ankrah gave the Roadrunners the advantage, going up 51-46 heading into the under-12 media timeout. UTSA held the lead for the remainder of the game, eventually going on to win by six.
Stat(s) of the Game
UTSA controlled the lead for over 31 minutes of today's action as well as outshot the Cardinals from deep (36%-28%) on its way to victory. The Roadrunner bench also played a big role, doubling the amount of production the Cardinal bench had.
Up Next
After playing three games in four days as a part of the 210 San Antonio Shootout, UTSA will be off for about a week and a half due to finals week, returning to the hardwood on Dec. 10 in a western road trip to New Mexico. That game is scheduled to tip off at 3 p.m. CT, will be streamed on Mountain West Network and will be broadcast on Ticket 760 AM.
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