UT-San Antonio wins Southland title
Posted: Sunday March 07, 1999 12:05 AM
SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) -- Texas-San Antonio coach Tim Carter may
spend the offseason teaching clinics. His game plan for Southwest
Texas made him look like a genius.
"I thought if we were going to get beat we'd get beat with jump
shots," Carter said after his Roadrunners beat Southwest Texas
71-63 in the Southland Conference tournament championship game.
With 6-foot-11 Jeff Foster manning the center for the Bobcats,
Carter's outside strategy, coupled with a solid zone defense, did
the job.
Steve Meyer scored 26 points and Devin Brown had 21 points and
11 rebounds to lead Texas-San Antonio to the title.
After running up a big first-half lead, Texas-San Antonio
(18-10) held on for the victory to earn their second ever trip to
the NCAA tournament, their first since 1988.
"We never let up and we never let down," said UTSA guard Lloyd
Williams, who played the last two minutes of the game with a big
grin. "Out intensity had us playing at a higher level."
Southwest Texas (19-9), which beat the Roadrunners just a week
ago to close out the regular season and earn a berth in the
conference tournament, had won five straight, including a
come-from-behind victory over McNeese State to get to the title
game.
After trailing by 15 points in the first half, Jason Blair hit a
free throw and Clifton Ellis nailed a 3-pointer to move Southwest
Texas to within two points of Texas-San Antonio at 33-31 with 18:32
left in the game.
The Roadrunners scored seven unanswered points, including five
by Brown, to move back in front 40-33 but could not hold on. The
Bobcats rallied again, moving to within a basket, 44-42, at 11:52.
Southwest Texas stayed close, trailing by no more than three
points, and came to within one point, 56-55, with 4:41 left on a
3-point basket by Donte Mathis, and again at 59-58 on a 3-pointer
by Wesley Williams with 3:59 left.
"We knew they would keep making runs," Meyer said. "But every
time they came close we answered them and held on."
Reggie Minnieweather hit a foul shot with 3:46 left and Brown
made two with 1:58 remaining to move the Roadrunners back up 62-58.
Southwest Texas could not close the gap again.
"With five minutes left, we were behind by two and had three
straight shots at it and couldn't get it down," said Southwest
Texas coach Mike Miller. "We had pretty good looks, but just
couldn't make it go in."
Texas-San Antonio got 12 points and 11 rebounds from Leon
Watson.
Wesley Williams led the Bobcats with 15 points, Mathis added 13
and Jeff Foster had 11.
Texas-San Antonio streaked to a 21-6 lead seven minutes into the
game. The Roadrunners outrebounded Southwest Texas 30-16 in the
first half, 50-39 for the game.
The Bobcats trailed 27-10 at the 7:58 mark, but staged a furious
13-2 run to cut UTSA's lead to six points, 29-23, when Foster
followed two 3-point baskets by Wesley Williams with a foul shot.
Texas-San Antonio led 33-27 at halftime.
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