SE Falls to D-I UTSA in Exhibition

Box Score SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Urald King turned in a game-high 16 points and Southeastern trailed by seven at halftime, but Texas-San Antonio would pull away in the second half and the Savage Storm would fall 80-60 in its first of three exhibition contests against Division I opponents.
 
SE will now head southwest for an 8 p.m. meeting with Texas-El Paso on Nov. 2.  It is the second-straight season that the Storm have played UTSA and UTEP in exhibition games.
 
King matched the Roadrunner's high scorer with 16 points, shooting 61.5 percent from the field.
 
Darius Harris nearly reached double-digits with nine points on 4-of-6 shooting, as did Quinton Threadgill who was 3-of-7 with a 3-for-3 mark at the free throw line for nine points as well.
 
Anton Cook chipped in seven points and Randy Peters had six as a total of nine SE players scored and 12 received playing time.
 
Harris led all rebounders with six boards, while Cook and Trevor Jackson each added four.
 
Harris and Threadgill each dished out a team-best three assists.
 
The Storm shot 42.3 percent from the field, getting off to a 50.0 percent start to the game before slipping in the second half to 33.3 percent.
 
Inversely, the SE defense held UTSA to a 35.5 percent \mark in the first half, but the Roadrunners opened up in the second by hitting 54.8 percent of their shots.
 
A big difference in the score comes from long range where Southeastern struggled, hitting just 2-of-19 from three point range, including none in the second half, while UTSA posted a 43.5 percent effort, connecting on 10-of-23.
 
SE held a slight 34-32 edge in points in the paint as well as a 6-4 advantage in fastbreak points, but found itself in a 26-14 disadvantage in points off turnovers.
 
UTSA scored first and the teams tie the score a couple times early, with the Storm taking its first lead at 13-12 on a King layup with 8:41 to play in the half.
 
The teams would trade buckets to a 17-17 tie before six-straight points by King, all layups would stake SE to a 23-17 advantage with 5:31 to play in the first.
 
The Roadrunners would cut into the lead with a pair of free throws, but Daichi Tanuguchi would connect on a three pointer off a Threadgill pass to take a 26-19 lead with 4:52 to play.
 
UTSA, however would score the next 11 points to regain the lead an d finish the half on an 18-4 run to take a 37-30 lead to the locker room at halftime.
 
The Storm would battle early in the half, using a 6-0 run capped by a Cook jumper to close the deficit to six points.
 
SE would hold it to a single digit deficit until the midway point in the half when the Roadrunners reeled off a 10-0 run to mount a 62-45 lead.
 
SE would get as close as 13 down the stretch on a pair of Tyler Lonzie free throws, but UTSA would pull away for the 80-60 win.