SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA men’s basketball team (1-0) pulled away down the stretch in a cross-town, season-opening matchup with the visiting Trinity Tigers on Monday night at the Convocation Center. Although Trinity used its zone to stick around, keeping the tension up with a single-possession margin deep into the second half, just beyond the 12-minute mark, the switch flipped and the Roadrunners assumed full control. A flurry of late scoring allowed UTSA to run away with the 103-77 debut victory for first-year head coach Austin Claunch’s refitted UTSA squad.
In the opening half, the Roadrunners seemingly couldn’t get any leverage against the Tigers, as the period saw seven ties and 12 lead changes. Despite a 12-point first half for Jaquan Scott and nine more from Primo Spears, Trinity proved that their DIII designation meant little as the defending SCAC champs and potential national championship contenders fired off a 48.5-percent shooting performance in the opening half, while also hanging close on the boards.
Down the line in the opening period, UTSA scored on three consecutive possessions and used back-to-back threes from Damari Monsanto and Marcus Millender to snap a 35-all tie and create some breathing room. Trinity’s Christian Green drew the game to a single possession once more with a :42 layup and it was a 43-41 UTSA advantage at the break.
With the Tigers shooting over 50 percent early in the second half, UTSA only let the lead slip once when Jacob Harvey spotted up for a Tigers three with 14:42 on the clock. However, the Roadrunners locked down and created a scoring drought after Will Bronson’s step-back jumper with 12:14 remaining.
Over the next four minutes, UTSA rattled off a 9-0 run that forced a Trinity timeout. The stoppage didn’t slow the Roadrunners, who extended the run to a 15-2 run when Spears used a steal to drive the lane and Raekwon Horton intercepted the inbound for another score four seconds later – taking firm control of the game. While Trinity ended its drought, UTSA was scoring in bunches on a near 2:1 margin. With 45 seconds remaining, Skylar Wicks’ steal and driving layup pushed UTSA over the century mark and Zach Gonsoulin sealed the 103-77 victory with his second score.
After facing the mere 64-63 lead at 12:14, UTSA finished the game with a 39-14 scoring spree to send the win into the books – making it six straight years with a home-opener win.
Collecting 13 steals in the second half while only committing five turnovers, UTSA finished the night with 40 points off turnovers (26 in the second half), upping their fast break scoring to 32 points. The Roadrunners pushed the Tigers into 28 turnovers and tallied 21 steals.
Spears absolutely took over for the Roadrunners in the back half of the game, finishing with 27 points on 9-of-16 shooting, in addition to five assists and four steals. Millender racked up seven assists in addition to his 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Scott finished with 16 points and Monsanto had 12 to round out four players in double-figures. Jonnivius Smith cut razor close to a double-double with a team-high 10 rebounds out of UTSA’s 37 total and four steals.
The Roadrunners make it a two-game week at the Convocation Center, welcoming the North Dakota Fighting Hawks to San Antonio for a Saturday, Nov. 9, first-ever matchup at 6 p.m. The UTSA women’s basketball team will be the front end of a twinbill, tipping off against UT Rio Grande Valley at 2 p.m.
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