GREENVILLE, N.C. – A blow-for-blow slugfest unfolded at Williams Arena to close out the week, as the visiting UTSA men’s basketball team (10-17, 4-11 AAC) battled the East Carolina Pirates (16-12, 8-7 AAC) at every turn of Sunday afternoon’s rematch. The game extended to overtime as the Roadrunners and Pirates split the time in front and recorded 15 ties and 20 lead changes before ECU got just enough leverage to pull away for the 96-89 win.
Both teams came out shooting hot, hitting over 50 percent from the field in the first half. Primo Spears made the first of his four three-pointers to give UTSA its first lead, under three minutes into the game. An early indicator of the game flow, RJ Felton kicked off a huge afternoon with a three-point response on the other end to swing the pendulum back to ECU.
Early free throws kept the Pirates moving, while UTSA was finding its answers beyond the arc – collecting triples from four different shooters. Marcus Millender and Damari Monsanto led the effort to keep nudging UTSA in front – while the half featured 11 lead changes, seven ties and neither team was able to build an advantage over five points. The lead changed hands three times in the final two minutes of the half, as Spears gave UTSA a 37-36 advantage with 1:41 to go, countered at 1:14 with RJ Felton going coast-to-coast on a fast break for the lead. UTSA closed the half on top as Spears drove the baseline and dished off to Raekwon Horton who found paydirt despite an ECU deflection – pushing UTSA ahead 39-38 at the break.
Felton put the Pirates on his back to carry East Carolina to just a one-point halftime deficit, scoring 22 points off 6-of-7 shooting, including 5-for-5 from the perimeter, on top of a 5-of-5 spot at the free throw line.
At the break, the Roadrunners led the rebound battle 13-10 and outshot the Pirates 59.3 percent to 47.8, while East Carolina went 9-of-11 at the line while UTSA was 1-of-2.
The offensive attack from both sides wasn’t cooled by the halftime break, but the Roadrunners started to build up some momentum quickly in the second half, doubling up the Pirates in the first four minutes of the period with a 12-6 advantage – fueled by Tai’Reon Joseph scoring the first eight points of the half for the Roadrunners. A seeming turning point saw Spears pick the Pirates and drop the ball off to Jonnivius Smith for a highlight-reel dunk that gave UTSA a seven-point lead with 16:10 to go. A little over two minutes later, Spears drained a three that made the margin nine points.
Largely quiet after the half to that point, Felton earned a hoop and the foul at 12:37 that started to chip away the deficit, as Yann Farrell hit a three and Jashyne Woodard got a driving layup that sliced the UTSA lead to 60-59. The Roadrunners battled at the line to stay in front, but Trevion Labeaux’s fast break dunk at 8:07 gave ECU its first lead in over nine minutes – and kicked off a see-saw of six ties and seven lead changes in the race to the end of regulation. In the final 2:14, Monsanto hit a clutch corner three to push UTSA up 80-77, but Farrell unloaded a triple of his own just 13 seconds later. Spears stepped back for the 82-80 lead with 1:24 to go and Cam Hayes countered at 1:01 to knot the score at 82 for UTSA’s first overtime game of the conference slate.
In the extra period, Monsanto hit his fourth and final triple to equalize the score at 86-86, but four UTSA turnovers in a two-minute stretch proved too costly and the Pirates created some cushion with Hayes at the line, pulling away to the 96-89 overtime win.
With Millender and Monsanto leading the first-half charge, and Spears picking up a big second half, the trio accounted for 59 of UTSA’s points. With UTSA logging a pair of 20-point scorers for the first time in February, Spears scored 24 points and registered seven assists and three steals. Millender scored 21 off 7-of-13 shooting, adding four assists, three steals and five rebounds. Monsanto was 5-for-9, 4-for-7 beyond the arc for 14 points while also grabbing five rebounds.
The Pirates ended the game with a 52.6-percent shooting average, beyond UTSA’s 47.0 percent, also just barely edging in front for a 33-30 rebound advantage. With 14 UTSA turnovers, the Roadrunners tallied more turnovers surrendered for only the sixth time this season – as ECU gave up just 12.
The Pirates finished 27-of-34 at the free throw line, while the Roadrunners were 14-of-16.
For East Carolina, Felton finished with 30 points, hitting 10-of-15 from the field and 5-of-7 at the free throw line.
Up Next
The Roadrunners have a well-deserved first BYE since starting conference play on Jan. 4. The Roadrunners will next be in action on March 2 at the Convocation Center, hosting Rice for Senior Day and Autism Awareness.
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