The UTSA Roadrunners men’s basketball team defeated the Southeastern Oklahoma Savage Storm 80-60 in their only exhibition game of the season Thursday, Oct. 31, at the Convocation Center.

UTSA senior forward Jordan Sims led the Roadrunners with 16 points, three rebounds, two steals and two assists. Senior center Edrico McGregor added 12 points and five rebounds as a starter, while senior guard Hyjii Thomas and junior guard Keon Lewis contributed 14 points each off the bench.

“It was a good game for us. They (Southeastern Oklahoma) changed defenses on us, but our two new point guards (Thomas and Lewis) did a good job controlling the game,” said UTSA head coach Brooks Thompson immediately after the game.

UTSA’s stellar point guard play was the notable difference throughout the game, as they dictated the pace and flow in the second half. The grouping of senior guard Devon Agusi, sophomore guards James Williams and George Matthews, Thomas and Lewis combined to score 44 points in the victory.

The first half of the game was not so stellar, as the Roadrunners got off to a slow start, shooting a meager 35.5 percent from the field.

“Some halves you miss shots and some games you miss shots,” Thompson said about his team’s slow shooting start. “I was just glad to start seeing some go in.”

Despite the low shooting percentage the Roadrunners ended the first half with a 37-30 lead.

But the Roadrunners came out firing on all cylinders in the second half.

UTSA shot a blistering 58.3 percent from the 3-point line, going 7-for-12 in the second half after shooting 3-for-11 in the first half. Thompson was noticeably pleased after the game.

“I hope we can do it every night,” said a smiling Coach Thompson after the game. “We came out and took a couple quick three’s early on, but we weren’t ready to play yet cause of the jitters. I think we settled in. We got guys that can make shots, and we just got to continue to do that.”

Lewis, who played 19 minutes off the bench while shooting 10-for-14 from the free throw line, touched on the early season jitters that were evident in the first half.

“It’s the first game. Everybody was a little anxious coming out, and we were all pumped up,” Lewis said after the game. “In the second half we just sort of mellowed down a little bit, found the open man and knocked the shots down.”

Lewis played last season for North Idaho Junior College and was one of four players to sign with UTSA in July along with Williams, junior seven foot center Kaj Sherman and freshman guard Larry Lewis.

“We did alright,” Lewis said. “A 20-plus win is alright, but we need to get a lot better and fix some things up.”

Part of early season play is figuring out the rotation of the squad. UTSA had 12 different players participate in the exhibition win against the Savage Storm.

“We’ll have to toy with the rotation for a little while,” Thompson said about the squad’s rotation after the game.

“Nobody’s job is settled in for sure, aside from Jordan Sims’, but we’re going to compete and see where we go from there.”

After the game, Thompson spoke about his team going forward and what to expect from his players.

“There are some bright spots and some positives to take away from this game. There’s also some glaring things we need to work on,” said Thompson.

“I’m happy with our team; our new guys had the opportunity to get their feet wet, and they’ll start to understand what to expect from division one basketball.”

With a few days until the season tips off, Thompson is reassuring his team that they will be prepared to get those last few tweaks in before the season opener next week.

“We’re going to need all of those days. There’s no doubt about it. We’re going to utilize them as much as we can,” said Thompson.

UTSA takes on the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks at the Convocation Center for the home opener on Saturday, Nov. 9 with tipoff set for 7 p.m.