Macaleab Rich emerged as a bright spot in UTSA’s fifth straight loss as he scored a season-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 point 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. UTSA advanced the ball and called time out.
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 25 and Jamir Simpson 20 for the Roadrunners, who lost their fifth straight. Maldonado scored 15 and Jun Seok Yeo added 13 to lead four Seattle 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 WCC play.”
After lopsided losses to South Alabama, Alabama, Colorado and USC, UTSA’s second half was encouraging moving forward.
The Roadrunners shot 51 percent after intermission against a team with wins against Stanford and the University of Washington.
Trailing by 13 at intermission and by 14 with 18:54 remaining, the Roadrunners engineered a furious rally.
Near the end, they scored eight straight points to take a 64-60 lead with 2:34 remaining.
“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. 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.”
Records
Seattle 11-2
UTSA 4-8
Coming up
x-UTSA at Florida Atlantic, Dec. 31, noon
x-American Conference opener
Notable
The Roadrunners remain hopeful that guard Vasean Allette will play this year, but he has yet to see any action due to personal reasons. Allette, a transfer from TCU, was regarded as the team’s top recruit 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 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
The Redhawks held the Roadrunners to 35 percent shooting and forced eight turnovers en route to a 37-24 halftime lead.
UTSA started the game with a 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.
He did not play. But Rayfield was on the floor shooting before the game, and so he is expected to be ready to play against Florida Atlantic.
End-of-half woes
UTSA’s alternate lineup proved to be effective initially, holding the Redhawks to 40 percent shooting in the early going.
But with Seattle gaining extra offensive possessions with its defense and with its efforts in crashing the offensive boards, 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.