Jan. 31, 2009
Box Score
Travis Gabbidon made a tip-in as time expired to lift UTSA to a 67-66 win over Lamar at the Montagne Center on Saturday night.
With UTSA ahead by one, Charlie Harper tipped-in a Kenny Dawkins miss with 29 seconds left that gave Lamar a 66-65 lead. Following an Omar Johnson miss, the Roadrunners fouled three-consecutive times in order for the Cardinals to get into the bonus and force the one-and-one free throw situation.
Ashton Hall, who was 4-ofor-4 from the stripe to that point, went to the line and missed his first free throw of the night which allowed the UTSA an opportunity to score. Morris Smith IV, who had a game-high 23 points and seven 3-pointers, misfired on the initial long ball and Josh Bonney missed after an offensive rebound before Gabbidon tipped-home the game winner as the horn sounded.
The outcome dampened a strong effort by Lamar in which the Cardinals battled back from an eight-point second-half deficit. Lamar took its largest lead of the game at 63-57 with just under five minutes left.
Kenny Dawkins led Lamar (11-9, 2-5 SLC) with 21 points on a season-high tying four 3-pointers. He also handed out eight assists. Ashton Hall added a career-high 18 points thanks to a 6-of-8 effort from the floor. Jay Brown was the only other Cardinal in double figures as he ended with 12 points and nine rebounds.
The Cardinals shot 53.2 percent and outrebounded the Roadrunners by seven, 32-25.
UTSA (13-6, 4-2 SLC) tied a Montagne Center record with 37 3-point field goal attempts and made 14, including nine in the first half. They shot 44.5 percent in the game and had eight steals.
After Smith IV, Omar Johnson had 17 points and seven assists and Bonney ended with eight points and five rebounds.
UTSA opened the game with three treys and led 9-5 before an 11-2 LU run gave the home team a 16-11 lead eight minutes in the first period. The Cardinals led 30-24 with 3:13 to play in the first before the Roadrunners closed the half on an 8-1 run to take a 32-31 lead into the break.
Lamar will return to action on Wednesday when they face Central Arkansas in Conway. The game will begin at the Farris Center at 7 p.m.
