UTSA 80 Northwestern State 62
The Roadrunners used a balance of shooting, rebounding and timely turnovers in an 80-62 win over the Northwestern State Demons at the Convocation Center, Wednesday Jan 18.
The Runners’ strong defensive front kept the Northwestern State Demons from ever posing a threat offensively.
UTSA jumped to a quick 18-8 lead at the start of the first half.
Tyler Washington led the Demons to within four with only a few minutes left in the half.
Junior guard Michael Hale III and the Roadrunners took over from there. Hale knocked down a crucial three pointer and a momentum changing two pointer.
Towards the end of the game, the Demons were turning the ball over continually, but even so the Roadrunners only had 7 points on turnovers.
The Roadrunners were up by a commanding 23 points with just two minutes remaining.
The Demons were led by Shamir Davis with 17 points and three rebounds, Louis Ellis with 10 points and three rebounds. William Mosley racked up 15 points and a commanding 12 rebounds.
Five Roadrunners scored double digits; Jerome Hill with 12 points and four rebounds, Hale III with 10 points and four rebounds, Johnson III with 21 points and three rebounds, Igor Nujic with 11 points and five rebounds, and Kannon Burrage with 14 points and seven rebounds.
UTSA shot 44.8 percent; whereas NWSU shot 34.5 percent. The Roadrunners also shot 63.6 percent from behind the three-point line.
“I think our team is really maturing and doing a good job in figuring out what it takes to win at this level,” Head Coach Brooks Thompson said following the game.
UTSA 80 Texas State 75
The Roadrunners entered Saturday’s contest with rival Texas State near the top of the Southland west division standings. The Bobcats were near the bottom, but when it comes to rivalry games, records get thrown out.
Aside from the Roadrunner fans in attendance, the fourth largest crowd in Strahan Coliseum history went home on the wrong side of the score.
The Roadrunners used a double-double from Jeromie Hill and clutch free throw shooting down the stretch to pull out an 80-75 victory in the latest installment of the Orange vs. Maroon I-35 series.
“Coming out here and seeing all their fans got my adrenaline up,” Kannon Burrage said. “They told us how big it is, (almost) like Duke-North Carolina.”
The rivalry between the two schools is big to some extent, though few know about it outside the local area.
“I told (Burrage) it was like Alabama-Auburn for our level schools ,” Thompson said.
For Hill, there was the memory of last season’s trip to San Marcos during which the Roadrunners held a late lead before losing to the Bobcats.
“All I could remember was coming in here last year and having a small lead,” Jeromie Hill said. “Then they came back and won.”
With that memory from last season fresh on his team’s mind, Thompson knew that getting a win would be tough.
“I expected that they would make a run,” Thompson said. “Texas State is a good team but it was a good experience to come in and win here.”
The Roadrunners made 64 percent of their shots in the first half and led 49-38 at the intermission.
“It was a hard fought game,” Burrage said. “We were happy to come out with the win.”
The second half was much more defensive as the Bobcats tried to claw their way back into the game while the Roadrunners tried to hold them off.
The win improved the Roadrunners’ overall record to 12-7 with a conference record of 5-1.
The Roadrunners will host a non-conference game with Jarvis Christian on Wednesday, Jan. 25 at 7 p.m.
