By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Ring Malith and Myles Thompson have a history together. A winning history. They combined to help Barton (Kan.) Community College to a 2024 national title.

Last season, they did it again, boosting the SIUE Cougars to the Ohio Valley Conference postseason championship and the school’s historic first berth in the NCAA Division I tournament.

Malith and Thompson were up to their old tricks again Friday afternoon at UTSA, leading a 77-60 victory over the Roadrunners at the Convocation Center.

When the Roadrunners made a run at the Cougars in the first and second halves, Malith and Thompson both made sure that their teammates didn’t lose their poise or their focus.

Asked if their championship pedigree made a difference when UTSA pulled to within two points five minutes into the second half, SIUE coach Brian Barone had a one-word response:

“Absolutely,” he said. “I called two or three plays and I don’t even know if they worked. You change defense, it helped a little bit. But at the end of the day, those guys are out there, they’re looking at me, letting me yell and scream, and they’re both like, ‘We got you.’ ”

Malith, a lithe, 6-foot-9 forward, scored 14 of his game-high 20 points in the second half as the Cougars improved to 2-0 on the season. Thompson, a more physical presence at 6-7 and 240 pounds, had 10 of his 13 in the first half.

It just seemed like they were always hanging around, ready to close the door on the Roadrunners, who played well in stretches, only to fall to 1-1.

“Disappointed in the result,” UTSA coach Austin Claunch said. “I don’t think the score indicates, you know, they pulled away there at the end. But it was a battle.”

Initially, it looked as if the Roadrunners were poised to play one of their better games at home since Claunch took over the program last season.

“I tell you what,” the coach said, “I thought we started the game great. We played a really good first half. At halftime, we had missed six free throws, a bunch of layups. You know, they were killing us in the paint on second-chance points.

“And then the second half, we come out and our offense is great, but we couldn’t get stops early on. Our first-half defense was great. Our second-half defense wasn’t. We just didn’t play complementary basketball.”

The Roadrunners played well in stretches, leading in the game for the first five minutes and then rallying in the second half to within two points with 15 minutes left.

At that point, the UTSA offense stalled out just as SIU started to heat up in an 18-6 run for the Cougars over the next seven minutes.

Forward Jo Valrie capped the run with two free throws, boosting SIUE into a 62-48 lead with 8:44 remaining.

The Roadrunners, held to 28.2 percent shooting for the game, never came closer than 10 points the rest of the way.

Barone said the Roadrunners have talent, and he predicted that they will be a good team this season.

“They’re a matchup problem,” he said. “They have guys that can score in a variety of ways. They’re relentless on the boards. I’m yelling at our guys to box out and a couple of times they just jumped over and caught it over the top.

“They’re versatile. You know, they have size, that if they want to go with big, big guys. They didn’t get as many minutes necessarily today. But they can utilize that. If they want to go a little smaller and lankier and rangy, they can do that.”

The SIUE coach, who once played point guard for his father, Tony Barone, at Texas A&M, said UTSA just needs to fit all its new pieces together.

“And this time of year,” he said, “you’re trying to figure (things) out, with 11 new players … I’m trying to figure out all my new guards. I think it was a good matchup for both of us, because, I think they’re going to be good. I think they have a lot of talent.

“He does a good job as a coach, and now you just got to figure out how to mesh it.”

Jamir Simpson led four UTSA players in double figures with 16 points, while Kaidon Rayfield, Austin Nunez and Dorian Hayes scored 10 points apiece.

Rayfield, a bright spot for the Roadrunners in the early stages of the season, just missed his second double double of the season as he finished with nine rebounds. Simpson, with 29 points in two games, is also playing well.

The 6-5 graduate student is one the 11 newcomers, having transferred in from Southern Utah where he averaged 16.1 points to become the No. 2 scorer in the Western Athletic Conference.

He’s a native of Lima, Ohio, and he’s an easy-going sort whose demeanor could have a positive impact on the overall vibe in the Roadrunners’ dressing room.

“I’m really happy I came here,” said Simpson, who has knocked down three 3-pointers in each of his first two games. “I always tell coach thank you for the opportunity, and just really excited to be here.”

Highly-touted junior guard Vasean Allette hasn’t been on the bench with the rest of the Roadrunners in two games this week due to some health concerns, but he is expected to return.

Claunch told reporters in his interview session with media that he is disappointed for the players that they’re not 2-0. But he’s not discouraged.

“There are a lot of things (we did today) that I’m pleased with,” Claunch said. “Often times I come in here and I’m mad and upset. I’m competitive. You never want to lose. But this is a team that I really enjoy coaching. We’re going to get better as the season goes.”

First half

Trailing by seven early, the Cougars surged on a 26-14 run in the last 12 minutes to take a 34-29 lead at intermission. Thompson swished a 15-foot, turnaround jumper at the buzzer for the last points of the half.

Thompson led the Cougars’ spirited comeback with his scoring and rebounding. He finished the half with 10 points and four boards. Jo Valrie came off the bench to supply a spark. Valrie had five points and eight rebounds in the half.

Malith had six points and five boards, including three on the offensive end. Malith, from the South Sudan, had a big play in the late run, rebounding a missed free throw by Thompson and tossing in a short hook shot to tie the game, 25-25.

The Roadrunners came out with an aggressive attack, posting a 15-8 lead in the first eight minutes. Simpson knocked down a couple of triples, and Dorian Hayes added one in the surge.

For the second straight game, the Roadrunners started Austin Nunez and Hayes in the backcourt, with Simpson on the wing and Kaidon Rayfield and Matheo Coffi on the inside.

Records

SIUE 2-0
UTSA 1-1

Coming up

UTSA at Texas State, Wednesday
UTSA at Denver, Nov. 15

Notable

Vasean Allette, a preseason second-team all conference selection, hasn’t played in the regular season after passing for six assists in UTSA’s exhibition game against Incarnate Word on Oct. 25.

“He’ll be back with us,” Claunch said. “Just finishing up some things with him personally, sickness and health and some other things. Yeah, you’ll see him back in the fold.”

Asked if Allette could make his debut in the Texas State game next Wednesday, Claunch said, “We’ll have to see. I’ll have more of an update on Monday or Tuesday.”

UTSA forward Brent Moss saw some familiar faces on the SIUE bench. Ring Malith and Myles Thompson were his teammates on 2023-24 national title team at Barton College.