UTSA defeated top seed McNeese State in the championship game to claim the fourth trip to the NCAA tournament in program history
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EDITORS NOTE: This is the fifth installment of a seven part series looking back at the 2010-11 Roadrunner men's basketball team and their unlikely run to an NCAA Tournament berth
The Roadrunners make their sixth trip to the Conference tournament final
After a day off following the semifinals, the UTSA Roadrunners and McNeese State Cowboys were the last two teams in the 2011 Southland Conference tournament in Katy, Texas. The situation was clear for both teams.
A win for UTSA would allow their run to continue into the NCAA tournament. A loss meant the end of the season and the career of Devin Gibson. McNeese State entered the game knowing they likely had a postseason berth. A Cowboys win and it would be the NCAA tournament. A loss to the Roadrunners would mean the Cowboys were heading to the NIT.
For the second time in three seasons the Roadrunners were unlikely contestants in the conference championship game. Two years before, in 2009 UTSA went to the tournament championship as a six seed before running into a buzz saw in the form of the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks.
The 2011 Southland conference tournament championship would be the Roadrunners sixth appearance in the final since joining the conference in the 1991-92 season. It would be the Roadrunners seventh overall appearance in a conference tournament final as they had one trip in their five year experience in the Trans-America Athletic Conference from 1986-1991.
McNeese State was in their fourth appearance in the SLC championship game after knocking off Nicholls State and Texas State. The Cowboys had gone 2-2 in their previous trips with wins coming in 1989 and 2002.
Prior to the 2011 championship game UTSA and McNeese had met just once in the Southland Tournament. That had been back in 1993 and on that day a 3-seed UTSA had beaten 6-seed McNeese State 77-68.
At 3 p.m. on Saturday March 12, 2011 all the leadup to the game was left behind. The two teams sent their starting five onto the court. The ball was tossed into the air and the next chapter of the Roadrunners 2010-11 season began.
UTSA and McNeese meet on the court in Katy
McNeese State opened the game with a 7-0 run in the first 3:30 of action. UTSA responded with an 8-0 run over the next two minutes to take their first lead of the afternoon, 8-7, with 14:28 remaining in the first half.
The two teams traded the lead back and forth over the next 50 seconds of game play. UTSA retook the lead, 10-9, with 13:40 left in the half and eventually pushed their lead up to 15-9 over the course of the next 2:15 of action.
McNeese answered with a 9-3 run over the span of 4:14 to tie the score at 18. After that run the two teams traded the lead back and forth three times between the 7:11 mark and the 3:28 mark of the half.
UTSA took the lead back, 27-26, with 3:28 left before halftime and didn't relinquish the lead the rest of the half. At the intermission the Roadrunners held a 30-28 edge on the Cowboys.
UTSA lived up to their slogan of "Everybody Eats" in the first half. Seven of the nine Roadrunners to play in the first half scored. Jeromie Hill led the Roadrunners in the first half with 13 points.
Devin Gibson was limited to two points. He got his first points of the afternoon with 5:36 left in the first half.
The Roadrunners claim their third Southland tournament trophy of all-time
Hill opened the scoring for UTSA in the second half with jumper after 1:04 had elapsed from the clock. McNeese State responded with a three at the 18:28 mark to cut the Roadrunner lead down to one, 32-31.
Gibson got a pair of free throws to put UTSA back in front by three points with 18:19 left in the second half. Between those free throws and the first media timeout at the 14:35 mark the Roadrunner lead bounced from three points to as high as six. McNeese cut the deficit back to four, 38-34, just prior to the first media timeout of the half.
UTSA was quick to push their lead back up to five and it even got to a seven point lead, 41-34 with 13:03 left when Melvin Johnson made a layup. The Roadrunners would take a 43-37 lead into the under-12 minute media timeout at 11:46 remaining in the second half.
In the next five minutes of the game UTSA held onto its lead, which bounced between a low of three points and a high of seven points. Each time it seemed McNeese might make the play to tie or retake the lead UTSA had an answer and increased their lead.
McNeese got to within two points of UTSA, 53-51, with 6:54 left when they scored two free throws. The Roadrunners responded with a 16-9 run over the next 5:33 of action to take a 69-60 lead with 1:21 left to play. It proved to be the largest lead for UTSA.
The Cowboys closed the game on a 12-6 run but the closest they could get to UTSA in the final 1:21 of the game was two points, 74-72 with 29 seconds left.
With six seconds left Melvin Johnson made one of two free throws to give UTSA a 75-72 lead. McNeese hurried the ball down the court after Johnson missed the second free throw. The Cowboys three point attempt that would have tied the game was no good.
Hill came down with the rebound for UTSA as the clock ran out on the game. The Roadrunner bench, cheerleaders and fans who had made the trip flooded onto the court to celebrate.
UTSA's unlikely run would continue for at least one game. Where that game would be played and who against would be decided the next day on Selection Sunday by the NCAA tournament selection committee.
On Saturday March 12, 2011, none of that mattered to the hundreds of Roadrunner fans in Katy. All that mattered was that their seven-seeded Roadrunners were champions of the Southland Conference and had punched a ticket to the NCAA tournament.
Next up: The Ride of March Part 6 -- Roadrunners enter the big dance and get the first NCAA Tournament win by any sport in school history
FORUMS: UTSA Boulevard | Roadrunner Way
