By Jerry Briggs
Special to The JB Replay

Trailing by four points in overtime, the Dartmouth Big Green rallied Sunday night for a 78-77 victory over the struggling UTSA Roadrunners in the 210 San Antonio Shootout.

With the loss, UTSA fell to 0-2 in the Shootout going into the final day. As the event concludes on Monday, Dartmouth will play Grambling at 3 p.m., before UTSA will host the University of the Incarnate Word at 6:30 p.m.

Dartmouth and Grambling are both 1-1 in the games played since Friday at the UTSA Convocation Center. Surprising UIW is 2-0.

The Roadrunners lost to Grambling by 20 points on Friday night, and after a day off in between games, they battled through some adversity but ended up dropping a close one to the Big Green of the Ivy League.

“We weren’t good enough with the game on the line,” UTSA coach Steve Henson said.

Trailing for most of the second half, the Roadrunners rallied to tie it in regulation behind the scoring and inside presence of center Jacob Germany.

In the extra period, UTSA took charge in the early going of the alloted five extra minutes, and the home team appeared to be on its way to a victory, even with guards Japhet Medor and John Buggs on the bench.

Medor was slowed during the game by a sprained ankle and played only 19 minutes.

With Medor and Buggs watching from the side, UTSA started to make a few plays. A driving layup by freshman DJ Richards lifted the Roadrunners into a 75-71 lead with 3:17 remaining.

From there, the Big Green steadied themselves and pulled out the victory.

Key plays down the stretch included two free throws by Ryan Cornish with 2:16 remaining and a driving layup by Cam Krystkowiak with 1:08 left.

Krystkowiak is the son of former Spurs forward Larry Krystkowiak, who has attended his son’s games in the Convocation Center. Larry Krystkowiak played one season for the Spurs as an NBA rookie in 1986-87.

Later in his career, he was teammates with Henson on the Milwaukee Bucks. Krystkowiak has also been a college head coach, most recently at the University of Utah. Henson is in his seventh-year as coach of the Roadrunners.

Cornish, a guard, led the New Hampshire-based visitors with 21 points, nine rebounds and four assists. He hit three of six from 3-point distance and 10 of 10 at the free throw line. Dame Adelekun added 15 points and six rebounds.

Off the bench, Dartmouth was strong, with Jackson Munro scoring 10 points, Izaiah Robinson eight and Cam Krystkowiak, a freshman, seven.

For UTSA, Germany asserted himelf with a season-high 27 points. The 6-11 senior also hauled in 13 rebounds. Off the bench, DJ Richards and Erik Czumbel scored 13 points each and played down the stretch in regulation and overtime.

Isaiah Addo-Ankrah, who missed a three off a broken play at the buzzer, started at small forward and had 11 points.

As for Buggs, the team’s promising redshirt sophomore, it was a tough night. He contributed only three points and sat out most of the second half to the regulation buzzer. Medor, a senior, had two points. Neither one of the two sparkplugs played in the overtime.

While Medor struggled through his night’s work with a sprained ankle that he suffered early in the first half, Buggs was fine physically. He just struggled. The redshirt sophomore finished his day one of nine from the field and one of four from three.

As for how UTSA plays against UIW, it’s up in the air depending on Medor’s ankle. If he plays, it might just be in limited minutes again.

Isaiah Addo-Ankrah said his teammate is tough. “He’s got some dog in him,” Addo-Ankrah said of Medor, who scored 28 at home last Tuesdayt night against Prairie View A&M. “I think he’ll play.”

If he can’t play, Addo-Ankrah said sternly that “It’s a next-man-up mentality, and I think we’re ready for that.”

Henson said UIW, a member of the Southland Conference, is playing well.

“They’ve done a great job in these two games here,” the coach said. “They’ve come in with a real solid offensive game plan … I don’t know their numbers, but in the two games I’ve seen, it looks like they they could be a seven-eight-nine turnover a game team.

“Looks like the offense is not real high risk, and they get some late (in the) shot clock shots. They get down in there and attack some people one on one … They attack the paint, kind of like (Texas A&M) Corpus Christi does. And tonight, they knocked down some threes.

“No, they’re playing great, and they’re feeling good. They’re going to come in here fired up and ready to go. We don’t have time to sulk. We got to respond, and I think we will.”

Records

UTSA 4-3
Dartmouth 2-4

John Buggs III hits a three late in the first half for the UTSA Roadrunners. But it's now intermission, and the Dartmouth Big Green have forged a 35-28 lead. https://t.co/hyCDEtJChY pic.twitter.com/Drlh3gxIzr

— Jerry Briggs (@JerryBriggs) November 28, 2022

Medor’s injury

Medor appeared to turn an ankle a little more than a minute into the game. He limped off the floor and tried to stay loose behind the bench, riding a stationary bike. Medor returned about six minutes later, but he wasn’t playing the same game.

Normally an attacking guard who takes it to the rim, he wasn’t doing anything like that in the limited time that he played the rest of the night. He finished with two points, three rebounds and three assists in 19 minutes and 25 seconds.

Down late, UIW finds a way to win

The Incarnate Word Cardinals erased a five-point deficit in the final 35 seconds Sunday afternoon to knock off the Grambling State Tigers 63-61 in the 210 San Antonio Shootout at UTSA.

Grambling, which trailed by as many as 13 points in the first half, built a 61-56 lead with 35.8 seconds remaining on two free throws by Shawndarius Cowart.

From there, the Cardinals worked some magic and won, improving to 2-0 in the four-day, four-team event. First, Brandon Swaby hit a long three to make it a two-point game. Pressuring on the inbounds, UIW forced a turnover, which led to a game-tying layup by Jonathan Cisse.

Grambling coughed it up again on the inbounds and fouled, sending UIW’s Trey Miller to the free-throw line. Miller hit both ends of a one-and-one to account for the game’s final points.

A length-of-the-court inbounds by Grambling was off the mark, and the buzzer sounded to end the game, with UIW players and coaches celebrating.

Josh Morgan led the Cardinals with 12 points. He hit two of UIW’s eight 3-point baskets. Cisse finished with 11 points, seven rebounds, six assists and two steals. Swaby finished with 10 points. In all, UIW made eight of 22 from deep.

For Grambling, Cameron Christon scored 20 on nine of 13 shooting. Carte’Are Gordon had 10 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.

UIW opened its second game in the Shootout with a solid first half, surging to a 13-point lead in the first 17 minutes.

The San Antonio-based Cardinals held on to take a 29-24 edge into intermission. All games in the event are being played at the UTSA Convocation Center.

UIW opened Friday with a 69-64 victory over Dartmouth College Big Green. Grambling entered its second game in the classic coming off a 75-55 victory over UTSA.

Records

Incarnate Word 4-3
Grambling State 3-4

Monday’s games

Grambling vs. Dartmouth, 3 p.m.
Incarnate Word vs. UTSA, 6:30 p.m.

How about that? UTSA center Jacob Germany with a steal and a break-away. https://t.co/hyCDEtrt3Q pic.twitter.com/3cIwuPUlJ0

— Jerry Briggs (@JerryBriggs) November 28, 2022

UTSA notebook

Voters in San Antonio approved a massive city bond last spring that included $5 million earmarked for a men’s and women’s basketball and women’s volleyball practice facility.

UTSA is expected to build a 49,774-square-foot structure adjacent to the Roadrunner Center of Excellence (RACE) on the west side of campus. Its cost is projected as $29.5 million.

An athletics department spokesman said in an email that there is no timeline yet on when construction would start or when the project could be completed.

20-point homecourt losses

Historically, it’s been tough to beat Coach Steve Henson on his home court at UTSA. Opponents have won only 30 out of 98 games against Henson-coached teams at the Convocation Center.

Even more rare are games in which an opponent has won by 20 or more. One of only two 20-point homecourt losses for Henson came Friday night against the Grambling State Tigers in the opener of the 210 San Antonio Classic.

Nov. 25, 2022 — Grambling State 75, UTSA 55
Nov. 12, 2018 — Oklahoma 87, UTSA 67