UTRGV MEN’S BASKETBALL BEATS NORTH AMERICAN

November 21, 2023November 21, 2023 Raul Garcia Sports UTRGV

November 20, 2023

RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men’s basketball team beat the North American University Stallions 92-73 on Monday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.

Junior Sherman Brashear hit a career-high six 3-pointers to lead the Vaqueros (2-3) with a season-high 20 points. Senior Ahren Freeman scored 16 points with eight rebounds and two blocks. Freshman J.J. Howard scored a career-high 14 points. Junior Elijah Elliott 13 points with five rebounds and four assists. Graduate student DeAnthony Tipler Jr. scored 12 points with four assists and four steals. Senior Daylen Williams posted his first double-double of the season with 11 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and three steals. Junior Hasan Abdul-Hakim finished with five points, six rebounds and eight assists.

Jalon Clark led the Stallions with 15 points with six rebounds, and seven assists. Damione Thomas scored 13 points with nine rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Jamarric Hammond scored 12 points with six rebounds and five assists. Kenwyion White finished with 12 points while hitting four 3-pointers.

The Stallions led 8-6 after four minutes. Freeman responded with a layup and got fouled. He missed the free throw, but Williams grabbed the offensive board and found a wide-open Brashear for a 3-pointer. Brashear hit another 3 eight minutes later to cap what became a 20-3 run to put the Vaqueros up 26-11. The Vaqueros scored the final 13 points of the run, including a pair of Howard dunks.

The Vaqueros still led by 14 on a Tipler 3-pointer with 2:49 remaining, but the Stallions scored the final 10 points of the half to pull to within 43-39.

The Stallions got as close as 43-42 at the start of the second half. That’s when Elliott took over, scoring nine points to power a 17-0 run to put the Vaqueros up 60-42 and push the lead into double-figures for the rest of the game.

UTRGV opens the Acrisure Invitational on Friday at 7 p.m. against Hawai’i in Thousand Palms, Calif. Fans can watch online via Be the Beast Event Live+.