GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Leading five Roadrunners in double-figures, Tai’Reon Joseph exploded on the North Dakota Fighting Hawks (4-8), scoring 21 of his 28 points in the second half to surge UTSA men’s basketball (5-5) to complete the weekend’s sweep of UND. Holding off multiple second-half surges, the Roadrunners strung together a team effort to defeat the Fighting Hawks 95-85 on Sunday at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center for UTSA’s fourth win in the last six games.
Although the opposing focus deservedly attends to Primo Spears, it was Damari Monsanto that UND should have kept more contained in the first half, as the grad transfer fired off a 3-for-3 barrage from beyond the arc to turn up the heat in the first half. After an exceptionally slow opening saw both teams combine for just 3-for-13 shooting in the first five minutes of action, Monsanto led the Roadrunners back into a flow, sparking a 14-0 run that quickly pushed UTSA’s advantage to double-digits at 19-9. This combined effort with scores from Monsanto, Joseph and Mo Njie couldn’t have come at a more crucial time, as Spears went down hard and left the game with no certain return and 12:20 remaining in the opening half.
Although UTSA held the Fighting Hawks without a field goal for nearly four minutes to build that lead, UND chipped away at the lead with free throws, but followed the drought by making five of their next seven field goals. As early foul trouble affected UTSA’s lineups and UND went on a 7-1 run, consecutive UND triples from Dariyus Woodson and Deng Mayar chipped down the deficit to a single possession and Brian Matthews’ front-end free throw at 4:15 made it a two-point game at 27-25. With things remaining close as the clock ticked away, Treysen Eaglestaff pulled up for a game-tying three with 1:24 to go at 33-all. However, Raekwon Horton was quick to counter, hitting a triple of his own just 23 seconds later. The Roadrunners carried momentum into the half, as Spears pulled up for a three-point dagger from the right arc with three seconds left, taking UTSA into half leading 39-34.
The Fighting Hawks tied the game at 40-40 only 74 seconds into the second half, but the Roadrunners never trailed in the period. Instead, when Monsanto hit another from distance, his fourth, UTSA used the tempo game to rack up a 12-2 run on UND over the next three minutes. That’s where Joseph simply caught fire. With UTSA leading 52-42, Joseph knocked down his next three triples and punished UND with another full-sprint dunk off a turnover, ripping open a game-high 17-point advantage.
As the Fighting Hawks made another push in the final 10 minutes, reaching 67-57 on Deng’s layup with 9:02 remaining, Joseph fired off the next six UTSA points and pulled heat from other open Roadrunners. Marcus Millender hit a three and a pair of free throws, while Joseph slashed the UND defense for a driving dunk to make it a 16-point advantage with 4:36 to go.
The UND focus down the stretch turned almost entirely to the perimeter first, where they were seeing success, as their next 4-of-5 field goals came from distance, cutting UTSA’s lead to just 85-82 with 1:28 on the clock via a triple from Deng. Solid ball movement gave Millender the opportunity to drive the lane for the 87-82 bucket, and paved the way for UTSA to do what it has done better than most of the nation – deliver at the free throw line. Monsanto, Horton and Joseph knocked down eight consecutive free throws to secure the 95-85 victory and the sweep over UND on the weekend.
Playing a crucial part as always, UTSA put away a stellar 91.7 percent (22-of-24) at the line. However, it was a season-high 51.8 percent from the field and a staggering 15 threes at a 62.5-percent clip that turned the tides.
The Fighting Hawks weren’t as efficient, but were again strong on the offensive glass with 17 offensive rebounds and 13 second-chance points to keep UND hanging around.
Turning in a highly-anticipated power performance in his third game with the Roadrunners, Joseph was 8-for-11, including 6-for-8 from three and was 6-of-7 at the free throw line for a total of 28 points – also grabbing three rebounds.
Monsanto downed 4-of-4 three-point attempts and finished with 15 points. A seemingly quiet night for Spears with others stepping up, he totaled 16 points for his 10th consecutive double-figure game. Millender not only locked up 11 points, he also matched his season high of seven assists. Steadily influencing the flow of the game when the Roadrunners needed it, Horton finished with a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds, notching two assists and a team-high three steals. It was the first time this season that the Roadrunners have had five double-digit scorers.
UTSA led for 33:25 of Sunday’s game, helped along by the ninth performance this season and fourth consecutive game forcing at least 14 turnovers, notching seven steals in the rematch and scoring 23 points off turnovers.
WHAT’S NEXT
The Roadrunners get one more chance at home in the Convocation Center before the New Year, hosting Southwestern Adventist on Thursday, Dec. 19 at the Convocation Center. UTSA will be hosting Hoops for the Holidays and the annual Teddy Bear Toss. That game is set for 12 p.m. as the front end of a double-header with the women’s team taking on UT Arlington at 4 p.m. Combination $10 tickets are available for the set of games, here.
In addition to on-court festivities, the Roadrunners are celebrating for the future, as Wednesday, Dec. 18 will be the groundbreaking event for the Roadrunners’ future Basketball/Volleyball practice facility.
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