SAN ANTONIO – A brief Florida Atlantic (15-12, 7-7 AMER) run early in the second half proved to be enough to edge the visiting Owls past UTSA men’s basketball (5-21, 1-13 AMER) on Wednesday night at the Convocation Center. Despite a halftime lead, the Roadrunners offense stalled for too long in the second half and FAU managed enough of a cushion to hold on for the 60-52 final, despite numerous UTSA rallies.
Wednesday was a defensive tug-of-war at the Convocation Center as the lead changed hands 11 times with three ties in the first half. With heavy defense on both sides, the scoring was slow early. After Florida Atlantic put the first four points on the board, a trio of three-pointers from LJ Brown, Brent Moss and Daniel Akitoby pushed the Roadrunners on top 9-7 by the 14:01 mark. Back-to-back buckets by Baboucarr Njie kicked off a big night for the sophomore wing and gave UTSA a 13-9 advantage.
However, a Kaanan Carlyle three-pointer nudged the Owls into position and Josiah Parker’s free throws pushed them back in front. The game lead swung back and forth by a single possession for the next eight minutes until UTSA registered consecutive scores with Kaidon Rayfield clearing the glass for a putback layup and Jamir Simpson capitalized on an Owl’s turnover, slicing the lane for a four-point advantage with 2:23 to go before half. Again, FAU countered, with Devin Williams tying the game at 26 with 48.4 seconds left. Coming out of a 30-second timeout, Njie picked up an offensive board for the putback score with 28 seconds to go and UTSA shut down the Owls’ response to claim a 28-26 halftime advantage.
Defense remained the theme early in the second half with slow scoring out of the break, but FAU proved more effective in its efforts, using an 11-2 opening surge to overtake the Roadrunners and build a seven-point lead into the first media timeout. After FAU got separation to nine points, consecutive scores from the lane and then the perimeter by Rayfield sliced the deficit to four at 11:30. However, UTSA couldn’t secure the needed stops and FAU’s ensuing 6-0 burst took the margin to double-figures for the first time at 47-37 on an Isaiah Elohim pull-up.
The Roadrunners cut the gap to six points five more times as the half wound down, including a Simpson three-pointer, followed by a Njie drive into the final minute, but UTSA couldn’t get the shots to fall and complete the rally – off the mark on the final three attempts as Florida Atlantic fended off the comeback to a 60-52 final.
Both teams saw suppressed shooting, with FAU at 36.7 percent and UTSA at 30.8.
The Owls spread out their scoring with three in double-figures, while Njie was a consequential factor at a game-high 21 points and eight rebounds. Simpson finished with nine points and four assists, while Rayfield logged a team-high 10 rebounds and seven points.
Up Next
UTSA heads to Tulsa to face the Golden Hurricane on Sunday at the Reynolds Center in a nationally televised ESPN Networks broadcast.
- UTSA -