Forward Macaleab Rich emerged as a bright spot in UTSA’s fifth straight loss as he scored a career-high 25 points on 11 of 15 shooting. – Photo by Joe Alexander
By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay
Austin Maurer and Brayden Maldonado stepped to the line and made two free throws apiece in the final 19 seconds Monday as the Seattle Redhawks survived a furious rally by the UTSA Roadrunners to win 71-68 at the Convocation Center.
After Maurer made his two freebies, UTSA’s Matheo Coffi scored on a layup to bring the Roadrunners to within one with 12 seconds left. But with 10 seconds remaining, Maldonado drove and drew a foul.
He hit both to boost Seattle into the final three-point lead. Subsequently, UTSA advanced the ball and called time out.
Seattle opened a 13-point halftime lead and then held off UTSA at the end, improving to 11-2 under fifth-year coach Chris Victor. – Photo by Joe Alexander
Inbounding with six seconds remaining, the Roadrunners set up a shot for Brent Moss, who misfired on a three just before the buzzer to seal the victory for the Redhawks.
“Disappointed with the outcome,” UTSA coach Austin Claunch said. “These guys (the Roadrunners) deserved to win, but so did they. It was a good college basketball game.”
Macaleab Rich scored a career-high 25 points and Jamir Simpson 20 for the Roadrunners, who lost their fifth straight.
Rich scored consistently from the low block, hitting 11 of 15 from the field. Simpson, coming off the bench, added five rebounds and a career-high six assists in one of his best efforts of the season.
For the Redhawks, Maldonado scored 15 and Jun Seok Yeo added 13 to lead four players in double figures.
“I’m proud of this team for finding a way to win,” Seattle coach Chris Victor said. “It wasn’t the prettiest game, but we had some tough guys step up and make big plays down the stretch.
“Our success in going 11-2 in non-conference play is because we’ve continued to improve every day, and that has to remain our focus as we head into (West Coast Conference) play.”
After lopsided losses to South Alabama, Alabama, Colorado and USC, UTSA’s second half against Seattle was encouraging moving forward.
UTSA leading scorer Jamir Simpson came off the bench to produce 20 points, six assists and five rebounds. – Photo by Joe Alexander
The Roadrunners shot 51 percent after intermission against a team with wins on its record against Stanford and the University of Washington.
Trailing by 13 at intermission and by 14 with 18:54 remaining, the Roadrunners didn’t flinch, engineering a furious rally.
Near the end, Simpson hit a three to cap a streak of eight straight points as the Roadrunners surged to a 64-60 lead with 2:34 left.
“I thought Jamir really led us,” Claunch said. “Macaleab was very efficient, and I just thought as a team we created really good shots for each other. Sixteen assists (for the game). That wasn’t really there in the first half.
“Our offense really got clicking in the second half. We got to look to continue those things.”
In the end, Seattle just played with confidence and made a few more plays.
For the game, Maldonado was a constant nuisance to the Roadrunners, burying three 3-pointers. Yeo, who hit only five of 14 from the field, made the UTSA defense work with his movement without the ball.
Mauer finished with 11 points and seven rebounds, and forward Will Heimbrodt produced 10 points, seven rebounds, three blocks and three steals.
Records
Seattle 11-2
UTSA 4-8
Coming up
x-UTSA at Florida Atlantic, Dec. 31, noon
x-American Conference opener
UTSA freshman forward Matheo Coffi battled underneath for seven points and 10 rebounds. – Photo by Joe Alexander
Notable
The Roadrunners remain hopeful that guard Vasean Allette will play this year, but he has not seen action yet, sitting out all 12 games on the non-conference schedule.
Though he reportedly is practicing with the team and has been since early December, he did not warm up before tipoff against Seattle and was not on the bench during the game.
Allette, a transfer from TCU, remains on the team’s roster but hasn’t been seen at any home games thus far. He was regarded as UTSA’s top recruit out of the transfer portal.
UTSA’s five-game losing streak is one shy of the longest in a little more than one season under Coach Austin Claunch.
It started with a home loss to South Alabama and continued with setbacks on the road at nationally-ranked Alabama, and then at Colorado and USC. The deficits in the four games were by 24 points or more.
Even though the Roadrunners turned around and played well against Seattle, there was a noticeable letdown at the end when the final buzzer sounded. Claunch said the team remains confident with the road trip to FAU looming.
“We’re disappointed but we’re also confident in coming back and (getting) ready to work,” he said.
A new look
Guard Austin Nunez returned to action after sitting out the USC game. He hit a three out of the corner in a 32-14 UTSA run during the second half that covered 14 minutes.- Photo by Joe Alexander
The Redhawks held the Roadrunners to 35 percent shooting and forced eight turnovers en route to a 37-24 halftime lead.
UTSA opened with a new-look starting five: Matheo Coffi and Macaleab Rich on the front line, with Austin Nunez, Dorian Hayes and Brent Moss in the backcourt.
Jamir Simpson, the Roadrunners’ leading scorer and a starter all season, played off the bench.
Six-foot-nine freshman Kaidon Rayfield, another regular UTSA starter, was on the bench in a sweat suit nursing an ankle injury and did not play.
The injury apparently is not serious. Rayfield was on the floor shooting a flurry of three pointers before the game, and so he is expected to be ready to play against FAU.
End-of-half woes
UTSA’s alternate lineup proved to be effective initially, holding the Redhawks to 40 percent shooting and trailing by only two in the first five minutes.
But with Seattle forcing turnovers and hitting the offensive glass for extra offensive possessions, the visitors soon started to pull away into double-digit leads.
In the final minutes, Rich muscled inside for a tip in to bring the Roadrunners within eight.
In response, the Redhawks answered with an offensive rebound and two free throws by Maurer and then a three pointer by Maldonado with four seconds left for a 13-point lead at the break.
UTSA’s hot streak
In one of their best streaks of the season, the Roadrunners outscored the Redhawks 32-14 in one 14-minute span in the second half.
It started after Seattle had taken a 46-32 lead with 16:20 remaining and ended with UTSA holding a 64-60 advantage with 2:32 left.
Simpson, a senior from Lima, Ohio, scored 12 points during the run.
UTSA held Seattle to one of 10 from the field during the early stages of the streak. In another segment, UTSA hit six of eight afield.
Macaleab Rich, a 6-7, 245-pound transfer from Kansas State, scored 14 of his season-high 25 points in the second half. – Photo by Joe Alexander
