By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Austin Claunch started his postgame news conference Saturday afternoon with an admission. “I got to be honest,” the coach of the UTSA men’s basketball team said. “I thought we were going to play better.”

A week after coming up short in a closed scrimmage against Stephen F. Austin, the Roadrunners lost again, this time in front of the fans on their home court.

In an exhibition billed as the “San Antonio Challenge,” the University of the Incarnate Word Cardinals showed they were the best NCAA Division I men’s team in the city at the moment.

They ran up leads as large as 21 points in the first half, fended off a UTSA rally after intermission and won 87-76.

In a surprisingly strong performance from a team in the lower-rated Southland Conference, the Cardinals out-shot, out-rebounded and clearly out-hustled the Roadrunners, who play in the American.

Claunch credited UIW coach Shane Heirman and his players for their effort.

“We knew they were going to be really, really good,” Claunch said. “They’re obviously picked near the top of their league, and (they have) a lot of returners on a team that won (19) games last year, projected to win at least that many this year and be really good.

“But, for us to start the way we did (in) the first eight minutes of the game, there’s no excuse for that, (and) it falls back on the head coach. Falls back on everybody. I mean, it’s everyone involved. I’m the head of the operation, and I’m pissed. I’m pissed, and we need to go meet right now as a (coaching) staff.”

With a smaller team, UIW out-rebounded UTSA, 51-36. In the first half, when they built leads as large as 32-11 and 39-18, the Cardinals shot a sizzling 54 percent from the field. The Roadrunners, in turn, shot only 32 percent in the first 20 minutes.

“We got to do better,” Claunch said. “I mean, this is unacceptable, to have that effort in front of our home crowd. There was a good turnout, too (with announced 1,361 in attendance).

“It’s just they were better in every facet of the game. More prepared. Better coached. Tougher. Better disciplined. Better energy.”

The coach ended his opening statement with a vow. “You’ll see a different team in 10 days,” Claunch said.

UTSA opens the regular season on Nov. 5 at home against the Houston-based College of Biblical Studies.

UTSA freshman guard Dorian Hayes said he saw some positives in the experience, knowing that the Roadrunners did make a run in the second half.

“I think some positive takeaway is that when we did go down, we did show some fight,” said Hayes, who finished with eight points and five rebounds in 29 minutes. “So I do think in the future, that could be good for us.

“It shows that we can embrace adversity, and I do think that we do have some guys who came off the bench and really gave us positive minutes. It just shows that they could flourish in their roles, and it doesn’t matter if they’re starting or if they’re coming off the bench.”

According to the statistics, the two most productive players among the Roadrunners were players who didn’t start — shooting guard Brent Moss and power forward Daniel Akitoby. Both led the team in the plus/minus column with a plus seven.

Moss, a 6-6 junior transfer from Barton College (Kan.), finished with a team-high 14 points on five of 11 shooting from the field. The native of The Bahamas, who moved to Lima, Ohio six years ago, also had a couple of rebounds to go along with three steals.

Akitoby, a 6-9 transfer from Morgan State, had eight points and four rebounds in only 10 minutes.

Among the UTSA starters, guard Jamir Simpson scored 12 points and Kaidon Rayfield added 10. Simpson hit a couple of threes from beyond the arc.

“I think Brent played really well tonight,” Hayes said. “He’s the one that really got us going defensively. Like, as far as energy, he’s the one that really stepped up. He forced a backcourt (violation) and got a couple of steals, hit some big-time shots. I really think he was the spark for today’s game.”

Highly-touted TCU transfer Vasean Allette, battling through illness and injury recently, finished with two points and six assists in 16 minutes. Austin Nunez, a former schoolboy star at Wagner High School in San Antonio, was out with an undisclosed injury and did not dress out.

Love Bettis led five UIW players in double figures with 16 points. Davion Bailey added 15, including four of nine from three-point range. The Cardinals shot 44.9 percent from the field and 36.4 percent from distance.

First half

Led by guards Davion Bailey and Harold Woods, the fast-breaking Cardinals raced to a 49-33 halftime lead.

UIW controlled the pace with its hustling style, out-rebounding UTSA, forcing mistakes and then running off their defense.

The Cardinals held an 18-7 lead at intermission on fast break points. In rebounding, they led 24-16.

Bailey led the Cardinals in the half with 13 points. The 6-foot-4 guard hit four of his eight attempts from beyond the three-point arc.

Woods, a 6-5 senior, scored 10 points on five of nine shooting. For the half, the Cardinals shot 54.5 percent from the field and 41.2 percent from distance.

Starting lineups

The Roadrunners started guards Dorian Hayes and Jamir Simpson, forwards Kaidon Rayfield and Macaleab Rich and center Stanley Borden.

The Cardinals went with Marcus Glover, Tahj Staveskie, Davion Bailey, Jordan Pyke and Harold Woods.

Nunez and Pierce Spencer, two point guards, are both expected to be ready to play for the season opener. Nunez has played previously at Arizona State and Ole Miss. Spencer played for Claunch at Nicholls State.