UTRGV MEN’S BASKETBALL TREATS SELLOUT CROWD TO BIG WIN
RIO GRANDE VALLEY – In front of a boisterous sellout crowd of 2,606, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men’s basketball team beat the California Baptist University Lancers 64-58 on Saturday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse, snapping the Lancers’ three-game winning streak.
Sophomore Will Johnston led the Vaqueros (11-11, 2-7 WAC) with 13 points and four assists. Senior Justin Johnson scored 11 points with eight rebounds, four assists and one block. Junior Daylen Williams scored nine points with nine rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block. Junior Ahren Freeman scored nine points with eight rebounds. Graduate student Dima Zdor scored nine points with five rebounds and one block. Junior C.J. Jackson scored eight points with three rebounds.
Taran Armstrong led the Lancers (13-9, 5-4 WAC) with 19 points, four rebounds and five assists. Hunter Goodrick scored 17 points with seven rebounds and two blocks.
The Lancers jumped out to a 9-2 lead before Jackson hit a 3 and freshman Adante’ Holiman drove to the basket for a layup to make it a two-point game.
The Lancers pushed their lead to eight and still led by seven at 21-14 when a Zdor layup and a Jackson 3 sparked a 12-2 run to give the Vaqueros a 26-23 lead.
The game became a back-and-forth affair for the rest of the half, with the Vaqueros going up 28-25 on a Williams jumper and 30-28 on a pair of Freeman free throws.
The Lancers regained the lead early in the second half before back-to-back Johnston 3-pointers put the Vaqueros up 40-36.
After the Lancers tied the game at 40, the Vaqueros went on an 8-2 run that included a Freeman dunk and a Johnson floater to take a 48-42 lead.
Then, after a pair of Lancers baskets, the Vaqueros went on a 17-6 run, limiting the Lancers to 1-of-6 shooting while forcing seven turnovers over a nine-and-a-half-minute span, to go up 57-46.
The Vaqueros still led by 11 at 59-48 when the Lancers went on a 10-2 run to pull within 61-58, but Johnston made a trio of free throws to put the game on ice.
UTRGV hosts Sam Houston at the UTRGV Fieldhouse on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are on sale now at UTRGVTickets.com. Current UTRGV students receive free general admission with their student ID. All fans need to follow the clear bag policy, details of which can be found at GoUTRGV.com/ClearBag. The party starts in Schlotzsky’s Vaquero Village at 5 p.m.
Fans unable to attend in person can watch domestically on ESPN+ or internationally via WAC International.
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