BEAUMONT – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros men's basketball team fell to the Lamar University Cardinals 83-60 on Wednesday at Montagne Center.
 
Graduate student J.J. Thompson led the Vaqueros (2-5) with a career-high 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting, including 3-of-5 from behind the arc, with four assists. with Senior Shaquille Hines scored 16 points with four assists.
 
Nick Garth led the Cardinals (3-3) with 21 points while going 5-for-7 from behind the arc. and Dorian Chatman scored 14 points with five rebounds. Marcus Owens scored 12 points with five rebounds. Dontavious Sears scored 11 points with 10 rebounds.
 
Down 2-0 in the openinig seconds, the Vaqueros took the lead on a Hines jumper and a three-point play by graduate student Dakota Slaughter. Then, with the game tied at 5, a layup by sophomore Adonis Rwabigwi gave the Vaqueros the lead again, but the Cardinals outscored the Vaqueros 45-15 over the next 19:21 to pull away with a 50-22 lead.
 
During the run, the Cardinals went 12-for-26 from the field, 5-for-11 from behind the arc, and 16-for-23 from the line with seven steals, while the Vaqueros went 4-for-21 from the field, 1-for-6 from behind the arc, and 6-for-13 from the line with one steal.
 
The Cardinals built their largest lead at 69-32 on a Sears dunk. Thompson responded with a free throw and then a three as the Vaqueros scored eight-straight points as part of a 19-7 run to pull within 76-51 with four minutes left, but that's as close as they got.
 
The Vaqueros are back in action on Sunday at 2 p.m. when host Angelo State in a game can that can be seen live on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel (channel 323). Doors open at 1.

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