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Seattle men win 71-68, sending UTSA to a fifth straight loss

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Macaleab Rich. Seattle beat UTSA 71-68 in non-conference men's basketball on Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

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 coach Chris Victor. Seattle beat UTSA 71-68 in non-conference men's basketball on Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

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.

Jamir Simpson. Seattle beat UTSA 71-68 in non-conference men's basketball on Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

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

Matheo Coffi. Seattle beat UTSA 71-68 in non-conference men's basketball on Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

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

Austin Nunez. Seattle beat UTSA 71-68 in non-conference men's basketball on Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

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. Seattle beat UTSA 71-68 in non-conference men's basketball on Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

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

UTSA men host Seattle in hopes of stopping a four-game skid

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The UTSA Roadrunners hope to break a four-game losing streak when they host the Seattle Redhawks in men’s college basketball at the Convocation Center. Tipoff is at 2 p.m. Monday at the Convocation Center.

In the final non-conference game on the schedule before opening play in the American on Dec. 31 at Florida Atlantic, the Roadrunners will face a tough challenge.

Seattle, a member of the West Coast Conference, comes in with a 10-2 record, victories over two power conference teams and a top 100 standing in the NET rankings.

The visitors are listed at No. 94 on the NET. UTSA, at 4-7, with only two wins against NCAA Division I programs, carries a ranking of 308th among 365 teams in the nation.

Seattle, under fifth-year coach Chris Victor, hopes to use its fast start to create momentum toward play in the WCC.

In Victor’s first three seasons, the Redhawks finished 23-9, 20-12 and 23-14, before going 14-18 last year.

Last fall, they were picked eighth in the WCC, a league dominated recently by Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s, Calif.

So far this season, Seattle has evolved into a force among mid majors, winning on the road at Stanford of the Atlantic Coast Conference and on a neutral site against Washington of the Big Ten.

In the Redhawks’ last game, played on Dec. 19, they beat the Huskies, 70-66, in a grind-it-out matchup of Seattle-based programs.

Seattle is a high-scoring team, averaging 81.8 points behind Brayden Maldonado, Will Heimbrodt and Gonzaga transfer Jun Seok Yeo. They shoot 51 percent from the field as a team.

Records

Seattle 10-2
UTSA 4-7

Coming up

Seattle at UTSA, Monday, 2 p.m.
x-UTSA at Florida Atlantic, Dec. 31, noon
x-American Conference opener

Notable

UTSA hasn’t won since Nov. 25 in Jacksonville, Fla., against Georgia Southern.

Since then, Coach Austin Claunch’s Roadrunners have lost at home against South Alabama and on the road against nationally-ranked Alabama, Colorado and Southern Cal.

In their last game, played last Wednesday in Los Angeles, the Roadrunners played on mostly even terms with the Trojans for the first 17 minutes. After that, USC rolled, claiming a 97-70 victory.

UTSA is looking for its first home win this season against a Division I program.

The Roadrunners are 2-2 at the Convo, with the wins against the College of Biblical Studies from Houston and Oklahoma-based Southwestern Christian (Okla.)

UTSA women roll into Christmas break with a winning record

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Bouncing back from a tough loss at Oregon, the UTSA Roadrunners’ women played suffocating defense for three quarters and scored a road game season-high for points in a 75-64 victory Tuesday afternoon over the Seattle Redhawks.

The Redhawks, down by 23 after three quarters, rallied to within nine with 1:55 remaining but came up short against the Roadrunners, who improved to 6-5 on the season and to 4-3 on the road. Seattle, playing out of the Western Athletic Conference, fell to 1-9.

UTSA’s post play proved to be too much for the home team to handle. Starting center Elyssa Coleman produced 18 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots. Freshman Idara Udo came off the bench to contribute 15 points and nine boards. Udo scored 12 in the second quarter when UTSA broke it open.

Through three quarters, UTSA’s defense kept Seattle from gaining any momentum, holding the Redhawks to 42 points on 32 percent shooting.

“Obviously, the last four or five minutes were pretty ugly, but that’s probably just attention span and just trying to get the game closed off and finishing it,” UTSA coach Karen Aston said on the team’s radio broadcast. “I thought we had some ticky-tack, little fouls toward the end of it, but I thought we kept our composure. Pretty good performance, overall.”

The team’s overall record at this stage of the schedule is significant for a number of reasons.

First of all, UTSA has a winning record without its best player having stepped foot on the court. Rehabilitating a knee injury, forward Jordyn Jenkins hasn’t played at all, and the Roadrunners still had a successful pre-Christmas run.

Second, the Roadrunners have done it with freshmen and sophomores contributing in a major way. Finally, from a historical standpoint, the UTSA women haven’t been above .500 at Christmas in a decade.

“We talked about this before the game,” Aston said, “that it’s been 10 years since UTSA has gone home for the Christmas break with a winning record. That’s a big deal.

“I mean, every time we step on the floor, we’re looking to do things that haven’t been done in awhile, and as we talk about all the time, move the needle for the program.

“Again, it’s been 2013-14 since we had a winning (record) prior to conference play, so that’s a big step for our team.”

Guard Julianna Walker was the hot hand for Seattle. She hit four 3-pointers and scored 17. Mya Moore scored 14 and Makayla Moore had 12.

Notable

After 10 seasons in Conference USA, the UTSA women will open play in the American Athletic Conference on Dec. 29 at Temple University, in Philadelphia.

They’ll be at East Carolina in Greenville, N.C., on Jan. 2 and then will be at home on Jan. 6 against Wichita State …

UTSA is trying to break a string of eight-straight seasons with sub-.500 records. UTSA hasn’t had a winning record since 2015 when they were 16-15 …

Although Power 5 opponents are 4-0 against UTSA this season, they haven’t blown out the Roadrunners in any of those games.

Arizona State of the Pac 12 downed UTSA 70-55 in Tempe on opening night. After that, the Roadrunners have been more than respectable in the next three meetings with teams from elite conferences.

In Lubbock, UTSA lost to Texas Tech of the Big 12 by five.

In a home game against Houston last week, UTSA’s fourth-quarter rally came up short in a 66-64 setback to another team from the Big 12.

And, finally, in Eugene, Ore., on Sunday afternoon, the Roadrunners were within five points with four minutes left before the Pac 12’s Oregon Ducks went on an 8-0 run to win, 61-48.

First half

Udo scored 12 of her 13 first-half points in a dominant second quarter for the Roadrunners, who played a more aggressive, physical style and opened a 39-28 halftime lead.

Udo, a freshman from Plano, hit four of five shots from the field and four of five also at the line in the quarter for perhaps her most explosive sequence of the season.

In less than three minutes through the 5:55 mark, Udo’s aggressive posture had the Redhawks in retreat. She hit a turnaround jumper, drew a foul and tossed in two free throws, scored on a put back and added a turnaround 12-footer for good measure.

As a result, the Roadrunners kept applying pressure and kicked the lead up to 16 points at one point. Sidney Love’s spinning layup made it 37-21 with 2:17 remaining.

Mya Moore kept the Redhawks in the game early, scoring eight of her nine first-half points in the opening period. Seattle trailed 16-15 as Moore grabbed the ball under the bucket following UTSA turnover and banked it in at the buzzer.

What cold weather? UTSA stays hot with its third straight victory

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For the third time in two days, UTSA played a game in weather better suited for outdoor hockey than baseball. Only this time, a light rain greeted the team when it showed up Saturday morning for a noon start against the Seattle Redhawks.

“We had some bad weather this morning,” Roadrunners catcher Josh Killeen said. “Light drizzle. Really cold. To get loose, it takes awhile. We got here early to run around and get our legs moving, to get our arms moving so we could feel good for the game.”

With his motor running, Killeen stepped up to the plate in his first at bat and drilled a long home run into the screen in left field.

“Felt great,” said Killeen, a sophomore from Reagan. “I knew, right off the bat (that it was a homer). It was first pitch. I was ready for a fastball, and he came in with it. I just did what I did.”

After UTSA scored twice in the first inning and once in the second off Killeen’s first home run of the season, the pitching took over, with Ulises Quiroga, Simon Miller, Grant Miller and Ryan Ward combining on a four-hit shutout in an 11-0 victory.

UTSA blew it open with six runs in the seventh inning en route to a 5-1 start to the season and a 3-0 start to the first homestand. The Roadrunners will finish the four-game home series against Seattle Sunday at noon, before nationally-ranked Stanford comes in Monday for a 1 p.m. game.

“Feels good to start off right,” Killeen said. “We’ve got a lot of guys who’ve stepped up, even guys off the bench. So, we’re excited. Just trying to keep this momentum going into tomorrow. And then it’s a big week ahead, with Stanford. So we’re excited and ready to get after it.”

After winning 7-3 and 3-2 on Friday, the Roadrunners left the park feeling a little bit uneasy about their performance.

“I didn’t think we played very good yesterday and we won two,” UTSA coach Pat Hallmark said. “That’s what the message to the team was. We were fortunate, lucky a little bit, maybe. Also, the message was, how good can we be if we play good. Right? You win two and you don’t play good, it’s kind of a good sign.

“But we were better today. We pitched well. We hit well, and we ran the bases well. We did not run the bases well yesterday. Anyway, we were better.”

Last year, pitching haunted the Roadrunners in a 22-26 season. Their ERA was 5.92. Teams scored almost eight runs per game against them. They lost so many leads late in games, it felt like collapses were almost inevitable.

Now they’re three games into their first homestand, and they’ve given up only five runs in 25 innings against the Redhawks. For the season, they’ve really only had one clunker of a pitching outing in a 12-1 loss at Tarleton last week.

On Saturday, the Roadrunners walked too many batters. They walked 12, which will not be good enough when they face the best hitting teams later in the season. But for the second day in a row, UTSA pitchers were good enough to buckle down and throw good stuff with men on base.

“It was good to see Simon Miller pitch as well as he did,” Hallmark said. “We need him, because he’s got the stuff to beat good teams. You know, the Southern Miss of the world. He’s got the stuff to do it. He just needs experience and (to throw) the strikes.”

Miller pitched the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to earn the victory. He seemed to get stronger as he threw more and more pitches. The 6-foot-2, 215-pound sophomore from Canton didn’t allow a hit and struck out five, though he did walk four.

“He got the breaking ball going,” Hallmark said. “He’s got a good breaking ball. He found the strike zone with it. He can be tough when he does that.”

After being limited to eight hits in Friday night’s second game, the Roadrunners rebounded with 10 hits, including four for extra bases. Leyton Barry, Chase Keng and Killeen had two hits apiece. Led by Barry, who is hitting .409 on the season, the Roadrunners have six players batting better than .300.

After going 2 for 5, Killeen boosted his average to .278. He said he is feeling good after hurting his thumb and playing as the No. 2 catcher behind Nick Thornquist last year. Killeen broke a thumb in his wrist area in the preseason and just wasn’t right physically.

He emerged fromm it all as one of the team’s best hitters in the fall. “I’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” Killeen said. “I knew I had put in all the work. Now it’s just God’s gift to me, blessing me. (Just) hoping it continues.”

Coming up

Sunday — Seattle at UTSA, noon
Monday — Stanford at UTSA, 1 p.m.

Roadrunners win two on a chilly opening day at home

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Luke Malone. The UTSA baseball team playing Seattle in Game 2 on opening day Friday, Feb. 25, 2022, at Roadrunner Field. - photo by Joe Alexander

Luke Malone pitched into the eighth inning Friday night as the UTSA Roadrunners downed the Seattle Redhawks 3-2 to sweep a doubleheader. UTSA won the opener, 7-3. – Photo by Joe Alexander

The UTSA Roadrunners talked in days leading into the new season about their hopes for an improved pitching staff. They feel pretty good about the results after the first five games.

UTSA improved its record to 4-1 after downing the Seattle Redhawks 7-3 and 3-2 Friday in 40-degree weather at Roadrunner Field.

Coming up

Saturday — Seattle at UTSA, noon
Sunday — Seattle at UTSA, noon
Monday — Stanford at UTSA, 1 p.m.

First day at home

On the first day at home for the Roadrunners this season, the pitching wasn’t perfect. But it seemed to hold together in the tough moments.

Leyton Barry. The UTSA baseball team playing Seattle in Game 2 on opening day Friday, Feb. 25, 2022, at Roadrunner Field. - photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA second baseman Leyton Barry plays the field on a cold day at Roadrunner Field. – Photo by Joe Alexander

In the first game, the Roadrunners fell behind 3-0, only to have relievers Ryan Beaird and Reece Easterling shut out the Redhawks on no hits in the final 4 and 1/3 innings.

In Game 2, Luke Malone started and worked into the eighth inning with a 3-0 lead. After Seattle scored twice in the eighth, reliever Allen Smith struck out two batters to end the threat.

When the Redhawks rallied again in the ninth, Daniel Shafer entered to get the last two outs to preserve the victory. The Redhawks had the tying run at third base, but Shafer induced a ground ball by Connor O’Brien to end the game.

Malone might have been the story of the day. He was strong. He worked 7 and 1/3 innings and yielded only one run on three hits, striking out seven and walking just one.

Last week, UTSA opened its season on the road against the Tarleton State Texans and won two out of three largely on the strength of their offense. They won 21-5 and 12-8 and then lost in the finale, 12-1.

Ian Bailey. The UTSA baseball team playing Seattle in Game 2 on opening day Friday, Feb. 25, 2022, at Roadrunner Field. - photo by Joe Alexander

Ian Bailey, a senior from Stevens, leads the Roadrunners with a .450 batting average through five games. He has nine hits. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Through five games combined against Tarleton and Seattle, two programs affiliated with the Western Athletic Conference, UTSA’s pitching staff ERA is 5.40, down slightly from last year’s 5.92.

In addition, UTSA pitching is holding opponents to a .259 batting average. Last year, teams hit .277 against the Roadrunners.