SAN ANTONIO – Using a fiery start to the game on Saturday afternoon, the UTSA men’s basketball team (9-10, 3-4 AAC) moved to 6-3 at home, holding off a threatening second-half Temple (12-8, 4-3 AAC) advance with the game on the line, standing their ground to pull out the 88-79 victory over the visiting Owls at the Convocation Center.
The Roadrunners came out guns blazing from the opening tip, scoring on the first four possessions on the beginnings of a huge day for Raekwon Horton, who scored on three of those possessions to lead UTSA to an early 11-4 lead over the Owls. As Primo Spears dribbled the court for a spot-up three, the Roadrunners assumed a 10-point lead at 14-4 just under four minutes into Saturday’s contest. UTSA kept pouring it on with a three from Marcus Millender and then another pair back-to-back from Horton to make it a 16-point advantage at 23-7 with 14:33 to go. The Owls began to chip away, drawing the deficit to 10 points, but the Roadrunners rebuilt on a barrage from Spears, Millender and Horton, while Baboucarr Njie battled a layup in the paint and Jonnivius Smith handed down an authoratative dunk to bring the advantage to 38-24 with five minutes remaining in the half.
However, Temple rallied up and reeled off a 9-0 run down the stretch that sliced the UTSA lead to a mere five points, capped by a Shane Dezonie layup with 1:21 to go. UTSA’s next move changed the game moving forward. After missing his first three triples, Damari Monsanto drained his first of the day and Millender closed the half with yet another buzzer-beating layup to go into the half up 43-35.=
A slow start out of the break created some space for the Owls to climb back into contention, despite Monsanto hitting his second trey just 23 seconds into the period off a David Hermes steal, with Temple launching another 9-0 run. Monsanto hit three consecutive shots from beyond the arc to erase the fact they made it a one-point game at 48-47 with 16:50 on the clock. After Monsanto moved UTSA back in front 58-47 on his fifth three of the day, the teams battled in the single digits across the next eight minutes. A Smith three to move UTSA back to an eight-point advantage, but the Owls made their move, holding the Roadrunners without a field goal for over four minutes while Steve Settle III, Jamal Mashburn Jr. and Zion Stanford brought the game margin to a single point with 5:05 remaining – Settle then hit a free throw with 3:55 on the clock that created the game’s first tie at 74-all, while missing the second that could have given them their first lead.
On the miss, Spears stripped the ball off Mashburn’s board, sending the turnover out of bounds and Millender followed with a key driving layup on the ensuing possession. A near-turnover on the next trip up turned into a key moment to keep the Roadrunners in front, as Millender drained a pair at the line after being fouled at the shot clock buzzer. Spears spun into a pull-up jumper with 1:19 left that proved to be the kill stroke. With the Owls forced to foul, Spears, Millender and Horton drowned out the rally and hit all six free throws to secure the 88-79 conference victory – earning UTSA’s first win in the series.
After Horton lit up the Owls for 15 points in the first half to build out UTSA’s lead, he finished with 20, alongside four rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Spears hit four from long range to fuel his 20-point performance – his 12th of the season. Millender went 6-of-9 from the field, hitting both from the arc to score 18, along with six assists
Logging his fifth game hitting at least five from three-point range, Monsanto finished with 17, hitting five consecutive triples after missing the first three, going 6-of-9 from the field for the day. Monsanto also grabbed five first-half rebounds and made three steals.
Stepping it up on the boards when the Roadrunners needed him most, Smith collected his fourth double-double, logging 10 points and 10 rebounds, making two blocks.
For the day, UTSA shot a season-high 53.5 percent from the field, knocking down 14 threes at a 56-percent clip – the second-best three-point shooting performance of the season.
Up Next
The Roadrunners have another stretch on the horizon, with back-to-back road games. UTSA travels to Florida Atlantic for a Wednesday matchup, coming back to the Lone Star State on Saturday with a rematch in Denton against North Texas.
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