UTSA zooms past Demons 80-62

SAN ANTONIO - Shooters from Texas-San Antonio were in the zone Wednesday night while Northwestern State struggled against a zone defense for the second straight game, falling  80-62 to the Roadrunners in Southland Conference basketball.

The Demons, dropping their second in a row, dipped to 9-9 overall and 2-2 in league play. UTSA improved to 11-7 overall, 4-1 in the Southland.

NSU got 15 points, 12 rebounds and 6 blocked shots by William Mosley as he moved within three rebounds of becoming only the third player in school history to post 1,000 in his career. Shamir Davis topped the Demons with 17 points while Louis Ellis added 10.

Melvin Johnson led all scorers with 21 points for UTSA, which got 14 by Kannon Burrage, 12 from Jeromie Hill,11 by Igor Nujic and 10 from Alex Vouyoukas.

UTSA sank 11 of 22 of its 3-point tries, and drained 17 of 20 free throws. The Roadrunners opened a 45-29 halftime lead with 54 percent overall shooting aim including 7 of 11 on 3-pointers. Meanwhile, NSU managed only 35 percent shooting including 9 of 28 on 3-pointers against UTSA's zone - the same overall rate the Demons posted in the second half last Saturday after Central Arkansas went to a zone defense as a 17-point NSU lead evaporated in a stinging 77-73 loss.

"We've got to understand we are not a team that needs to live and die beyond the 3-point line offensively. We need to move the ball better, drive it through the lanes that open, and then go inside-outside for more open shots. It's within our reach but right now we've not been willing to accept that concept," said 13th-year Demons' coach Mike McConathy.

"Defensively, we've got to bear down and defend the 3-pointer much better. Give credit to those shooters for some of it, but we have to be better defending. We had it within 10 points and then Hill made two 3-pointers where we didn't defend him aggressively enough and that got UTSA on the way to putting it away."

A 12-0 run to end the first half broke the game open, capped by a 24-footer at the buzzer by 5-9 point guard Michael Hale. The Demons made only 3 of 12 shots inside the 3-point arc in the first half and were 29 percent overall (8-28).

The Roadrunners went on a clinching 15-3 tear after NSU closed within 62-52, with the pair of 3-pointers by Hill triggering the run.

"UTSA has a very fine, very well coached, very tough team," said McConathy. "They did a great job tonight. We'll hopefully learn some lessons and come out better for it next time out."

The Demons head to Lake Charles Saturday afternoon to play McNeese at 3 on the second side of a rare Southland doubleheader beginning with a women's matchup at 1.

Next week, NSU enjoys a two-game homestand, next Wednesday night against Lamar and next Saturday when Southeastern Louisiana visits.