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EDINBURG – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros men's basketball team picked up its first Western Athletic Conference victory of the season, 82-72 over the Chicago State University Cougars on Thursday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
 
Freshman Antonio Green led five Vaqueros (5-13, 1-2 WAC) in double-figures scoring with a career-high 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including 5-of-9 from behind the arc, with five rebounds and six assists. Graduate student J.J. Thompson scored 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting, including a pair of three-pointers, with five rebounds and eight assists. Graduate student Dakota Slaughter scored 17 points with five rebounds and four assists. Sophomore Dan Kimasa scored 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting with seven rebounds and a career-high tying four blocks. Senior Shaquille Hines scored 10 points with a career-high 14 rebounds.
 
Kieran Woods led the Cougars (4-15, 0-3 WAC) with 16 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals. Jordan Madrid-Andrews scored 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting with seven rebounds. Anthony Eaves scored 10 points.
 
The Vaqueros and Cougars traded baskets over the first eight minutes, with the Vaqueros going up 16-15 on a Thompson three-pointer. The Cougars followed by hitting five of their next eight shots to go on a 12-2 run and take a 27-18 lead on an Elliott Cole three-pointer at the 7:11 mark.
 
Kimasa responded by scoring eight of the game's next 24 points to power an 18-6 run that put the Vaqueros up 36-33 after a pair of Hines free throws with 2:04 remaining in the first half.
 
The Vaqueros' lead was cut to 45-44 on a Montana Byrd three-pointer early in the second half, but Green hit a trio of three-pointers while scoring 12 points to power a 25-11 run over the next 10 minutes that saw the Vaqueros take their largest lead of the game at 70-55.
 
The Vaqueros are back in action on Saturday at 7 p.m. against Missouri-Kansas City at the UTRGV Fieldhouse in a game that will be televised lived throughout the state of Texas on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel (323). It's Winter Texan Appreciation Night. All Winter Texans in attendance will receive free popcorn, and the first 100 Winter Texans in attendance will receive a free t-shirt. There will also be an exclusive Winter Texan raffle for free rounds of golf at Palm View Golf Course. Doors open at 6.

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