Guard Isaiah Wyatt scored a career-high 27 points as the UTSA Roadrunners improved to 3-1 in their last four games. The 6-foot-4 Wyatt transferred into UTSA in the offseason after playing last year at Division II Chadron State (Neb.) – Photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Seven-foot center Carlton Linguard Jr. hit two three-pointers in the final two minutes Thursday night as the UTSA Roadrunners came out of a second-half offensive lull just in time, rallying past the Lamar Cardinals, 86-83, at the Convocation Center.

“We played together collectively to get this win,” said Isaiah Wyatt, who led the Roadrunners with a career-high of 27 points. “The biggest thing is, when we went through the drought, we played defense. We got a bunch of stops and Carl hit some big threes at the end. Also Dre (Fuller was) grabbing rebounds, giving us second chances. That helped us.”

In a back-and-forth affair, UTSA surged to a 12-point lead in the first half, only to see Lamar go on a run and lead by as many as 10 in the second half.

Carlton Linguard Jr. finished with 16 points, made a season-high four three-pointers and blocked four shots. – Photo by Joe Alexander

A 3-pointer by Cody Pennebaker lifted the Cardinals into a 67-57 advantage with 7:29 remaining. A few minutes later, Ja’Sean Jackson from San Antonio’s Wagner High School nailed a long trey to keep the Cardinals in front by eight.

In the end, UTSA didn’t fold. Adante’ Holiman answered Jackson’s shot with a three of his own. Linguard, playing his first season of basketball since 2021-22 at Kansas State, nailed two long balls in a decisive 12-0 run. The second one with 35.4 seconds remaining lifted the Roadrunners into an 81-77 lead.

The Roadrunners, who have won three of their last four games, never trailed again. “I felt like the whole team had a chip on our shoulder,” Linguard said, recalling UTSA’s 90-82 loss to Lamar in Beaumont on Nov. 14. “Second half, we kept pushing. We kept fighting.”

UTSA coach Steve Henson credited his players for maintaining their effort to the end. “We just hung in there and hung in there and made enough plays to pull it out,” he said.

Wyatt was on fire early. He hit six of his seven three-point baskets in the first half and scored 21 as UTSA built a 44-38 intermission lead. Linguard finished with 16 points and four blocked shots. In an impressive show by the big man, he hit four of six from three.

Christian Tucker finished with 13 points and 11 assists.

Records

Lamar 4-4
UTSA 4-4

Coming up

Arkansas-Fort Smith at UTSA, Dec. 10, at noon.

Junior point guard Christian Tucker scored nine points in the second half. He finished with 13 points and a career-high 11 assists for the first double double of his career. – Photo by Joe Alexander