Lyle, De Nicolao lead UTSA to 74-64 win over Louisiana Tech

Feb 25, 2018, 04:11 am

SAN ANTONIO -- Deon Lyle had 17 points and Giovanni De Nicolai scored nine of his 11 points in the final 5 1/2 minutes to help UT San Antonio pull away for a 74-64 win over Louisiana Tech on Saturday night.

Byron Frohnen had 10 points and nine rebounds while Keaton Wallace scored 10 with eight assists for UTSA (17-12, 10-6 Conference USA). The Roadrunners are fifth in the conference standings, one game behind Marshall. The top four teams earn first-round byes in next month's C-USA tournament.

De Nicolao hit two free throws to give UTSA the lead for good and spark a 6-0 spurt that made it 59-53 when he made two more foul shots with 4:40 to play. The Bulldogs (16-14, 7-10) trimmed their deficit to three points on two occasions in the final three minutes, but, each time, De Nicolao answered with a basket on the other end before the Roadrunners scored the final six points.

Jacobi Boykins had 17 points and eight rebounds for Louisiana Tech. Powell finished with 14 points and Exavian Christon added 11.

Freshman Jhivvan Jackson, UTSA's leading scorer at nearly 19 points per game, scored six points in four minutes before leaving the game due to a knee injury. After the game, Roadrunners coach Steve Henson said Jackson would get an MRI and added that, "the initial diagnosis is very concerning."