The UTSA duo of Devin Brown and McEverett Powers combined for 43 points to lead Texas-San Antonio past Illinois State, 88-82, Saturday afternoon in non-conference basketball action at San Antonio, Texas.
Baboucarr Bojang led the Redbirds with 20 points while Gregg Alexander had 18. Shawn Jeppson also contributed with 15 and Vince Greene had 12. This is the fourth straight loss for Illinois State (2-4) and fifth straight road game for the Birds. UTSA is now 3-1 on the year.
Illinois State led 13-10 in the first before Texas-San Antonio went on a 17-0 run mid-way through and held the Redbirds without a field goal for seven minutes. A three-point basket by Alexander broke Illinois States offensive freeze and created a scoring run for the Birds, who closed the UTSA lead to six at the 1:19 mark, 37-31.
A foul on Casey Reid put Brown at the free throw line before Texas-San Antonio scored five straight points to be up 42-32 at halftime.
Illinois State rebounded from the first half to pull within one and eventually take a one-point lead, 61-60, with 10:12 to play in the game. But UTSA went on another run, 11-0, that had the Redbirds trailing by 11 with two minutes to play.
The Redbirds got to within three, 85-82, with :15 seconds left on the clock, but two fouls by Greene on Brown took him to the line and secured the victory after he made three of four.
ISU shot fifty-seven percent from the field in the second half and fifty-one percent for the game. Texas-San Antonio shot forty-eight percent for the game.
After two-straight, four-day road trips for the Birds, they finally continue their season at home against Samford next Saturday at 1:05 p.m. in Redbird Arena.
