SAN ANTONIO – Despite an early battle and a late rally, the UTSA men’s basketball team (4-11, 0-3 AMER) saw its loss streak grow to eight games on Wednesday night at the Convocation Center, as Charlotte’s (8-8, 2-1 AMER) scoring runs in stretches bookending halftime created too great a deficit. Fending off a late push by the Roadrunners, the 49ers left UTSA’s American home opener with a 74-58 win.
The Roadrunners found success early from beyond the arc, beginning with consecutive three-point scores from freshman Dorian Hayes, with Jamir Simpson dropping in one of his own from the wing to earn UTSA’s second lead. After center Mo Njie battled to a layup to make it 13-11 for UTSA, that would mark the final lead for the Roadrunners.
The 49ers moved the needle to a six-point advantage after back-to-back threes and the entire 8-0 run scored by Damani Harrison, but Njie chipped it back with a three-pointer from the top of the key and Simpson returned the game to a one-point difference on a paint jumper with 10:26 remaining in the half.
The game held at 27-23, as neither team scored for almost three minutes, but the 49ers opened up a 7-0 run across most of the final 2:33 – broken up by Hayes dropping his third three at the buzzer to snap the run and send UTSA into halftime trailing 34-26.
Right out of the break, Hayes hit another triple and the teams traded scores early in the half, but the UTSA offense stalled and Charlotte fired off a 10-2 push – eventually growing their advantage over 20 by the midpoint of the half.
After Major Freeman took the game to 67-45 with 3:56 remaining, the Roadrunners kicked the offense into a rally gear, with Austin Nunez teaming with Kaidon Rayfield and Baboucarr Njie to chip the deficit down to 13 on a 9-0 run over the next minute. However, Charlotte regained its footing and held off the comeback to complete the 74-58 win.
With 13 of his 16 points in the second half, Nunez finished with a UTSA-high 16 points, going 6-for-16 from the field and 3-for-5 from three, along with three assists. Hayes matched his career high with 15 points, putting down 4-of-7 from long range. Rayfield paced the rebounding effort, grabbing seven boards.
Up Next
One more at home this week, as Tulane comes to San Antonio for a 4 p.m. tipoff on Saturday as the second half of the doubleheader with women’s basketball (12 p.m.), featuring UTSA’s Salute to First Responders. Next Wednesday, UTSA welcomes Rice to the Convo, before heading to Memphis on Sunday for a nationally televised matchup with the defending American Champion Tigers.
- UTSA -