SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA men’s basketball team (1-1) celebrated its first win of the 2026-27 season in the home opener on Saturday night at the Convocation Center. The Roadrunners downed VMI (1-2), 70-68, sealing the hard-fought win over the Keydets in the closing minute. Utilizing both point guards heavily in the same lineup in the second half, the trio of juniors KJ Tenner and Josiah LeGree and graduate student Demari Williams all made key plays to help the Roadrunners to rally to victory, setting up the game-clinching shot from redshirt senior Preston Turner on a true team play.
The opening minutes set the tone for what would play out as a back-and-forth home opener, eventually swaying to the Roadrunners for good after 11 lead changes and seven ties, mostly beyond halftime. Turner splashed his first bucket to give UTSA the early lead with a three from the right wing at 5-2, but the Keydets countered with a triple of their own and the next possession opened up a heavy dose of free throw access that would fortify VMI’s position in the first half. Though the Roadrunners kept things mostly at a single possession and forced three ties over the next 12 minutes, the Keydets managed to escape every push without surrendering the lead.
With a one-point advantage and 5:07 on the clock, VMI made its biggest move of the game, as Rickey Bradley and TJ Johnson spearheaded a 6-0 run that pushed the Keydets’ lead to seven with 3:34 to go. On the ensuing possession, redshirt junior Shey Eberwein made a shoestring save on the sideline, resetting the play, then taking the return pass from Tenner all the way up the baseline for the bucket with 3:04 left to halt the run. Freshman Jayson Peterson added a putback to trim it to three in the final minute, but the half ended fittingly with a Joao Panzo free throw and a 35-31 VMI advantage.
Both teams shot around 38 percent in the opening half and made three from the perimeter, but the Keydets got the added boost of going 12-for-17 at the free throw line.
Out of the break, VMI earned the first couple of buckets in the new half, but the next four belonged to the Roadrunners, who launched a 9-0 run to take the lead at 41-39, powered by three consecutive scoring possessions – sparked by a driving dunk from LeGree, one of the smallest guards on the floor. The next seven scoring possessions saw the lead change hands or the game become tied heading into the final 10 minutes of action.
After LeGree found freshman Mike Broxton Jr. for a backdoor dunk, senior Isaiah Coleman’s floater with 9:42 to go gave UTSA its biggest lead since the opening minutes, building the momentum for the Roadrunners.
VMI’s Johnson brothers sparked the Keydets to retake the lead and set off another stretch with the lead in the balance, but Broxton, Williams and Turner combined to close out the game in the dwindling moments. Battling back from a 66-62 VMI lead with 1:48 on the clock, Williams found Broxton slicing the lane for the layup with 1:32 left. On the next possession, LeGree drove and kicked the ball out to Williams, sliding up the wing for the go-ahead three with 58.8 seconds on the clock. Coming out to defend the perimeter, Broxton forced an off-target three on the next VMI attempt and the Roadrunners used three passes around the horn with Williams finding Turner for the three-point splash from the corner and the four-point lead with seven seconds remaining. Though the Keydets got a quick bucket, it wasn’t enough as UTSA locked up a 39-33 second-half scoring advantage to secure the 70-68 victory.
Nine players scored for the Roadrunners in the win, paced by Tenner (4-for-8), Williams (6-for-8) and LeGree (6-for-15) each with 14 points. LeGree also logged four assists, Tenner had three and Williams added a pair of assists – also registering a pair of steals. The rookie, Broxton proved big in important moments, particularly on defense, collecting three blocks and three rebounds on the night. Eberwein led the Roadrunners on the glass with five rebounds.
In the second half, UTSA shot 45.5 percent from the field to finish at 41.8 percent on the night.
The game also goes down as the first career victory for acting head coach Nick Bowman.
Up Next
Back on the road and back on the West Coast, the Roadrunners play a return game from last season at Seattle U on Wednesday, Nov. 11 – tipping off at 9 p.m. CT at the Redhawk Center. UTSA returns home for a Sunday Battle for I-35 matchup with Texas State on ESPN2 to close out the week.
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