The UTSA men found themselves on the wrong side of anail-biter Saturday Jan. 29 in Idaho with a loss to the Vandals 74-70.
Kannon Hale had a strong showing with 21 points and 7assists, and Eric McGregor had a career high of 10 points. However, Kyle Baroneplayed like an All-Star for the Vandals, shooting 100 percent from thefloor—finishing with 25 points—while helping his team beat the ‘Runners on theboards by snagging 16 rebounds.
It was a close game throughout, but after a 6 point run byIdaho State early in the first half the Roadrunners were forced to playcatch-up for the rest of the night. With 1:52 left in the first half UTSAshowed a spark, starting with a jumper from Kannon Burrage, and ended the halftied 38-38.
However, a 7-0 run by Idaho State put them up 60-55 withfive minutes left in the game. Hale and Jordan Sims helped the ‘Runners make ita two point game with 8.9 seconds left, but the Vandals sealed the win at thefree throw line and walked away with the four point victory.
The game on Thursday Jan. 26 was a historical moment for theRoadrunners, however.
The UTSA men’sbasketball team grabbed its first Western Athletic Conference win in schoolhistory against the Seattle University Redhawks 78-75.
With an early run, the Roadrunners ignited a scoringdominance fueled by Burrage and Hale. Midway through the first half, theRoadrunners had jumped to a 26-12 lead, with Burrage leading the way with 12points. The Redhawks’, Jarrell Flora, scored back-to-back 3-pointers to bring Seattle within sevenby half time.
Hale, who attended high school in Seattle, had a career andteam high of 35 points at the end of the game, but it didn’t stop Seattle frommaking a 9-0 run in the second half to make the score close at 58-55. TheRoadrunners made five free-throws in the final minutes, helping them hold theirlead at 74 – 68.
Even with UTSA players, Burrage and Hyjii Thomas, scoring indouble digits, it was still a close finale—with 2.3 seconds left in the gameand the score 78-75.
Time expired, however, in the favor of the Roadrunners.
