EDINBURG – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) men's basketball team picked up their first win of the season after defeating Bethune-Cookman University (BCU) 92-74 on Monday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
 
Senior Nick Dixon led the way for UTRGV (1-1) scoring 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting and also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds to go along with four assists. Senior Moe McDonald finished the night with 17 points with five rebounds and junior Jordan Jackson added 13 points with six rebounds.
 
Bethune-Cookman (1-1) was led by Isaiah Bailey, who scored a game-high 21 points while Brandon Tabb chipped in with 19 points. Shawntrez Davis added 10 points and a game-high eight rebounds.
 
UTRGV jumped out to an early 8-2 lead after McDonald knocked down one of his four three-pointers. BCU got within 9-5 but UTRGV pushed their lead back to eight points as senior Dan Kimasa put in a layup making it 13-5.
 
BCU got within one at 15-14 with 13:14 left in the half after a layup by Houston Smith but UTRGV answered with an 11-0 run that pushed their lead to 26-14 after another McDonald three-pointer. 
 
Later in the half, McDonald knocked down another three-pointer that pushed UTRGV's lead to 41-25 with 3:17 left in the first as they extended their lead to 51-32 heading into halftime. UTRGV shot 40 percent from the floor in the first half and 54 percent from beyond the arc.
 
In the second half, Jackson knocked down a pair of free throws extending UTRGV's lead to 59-35 with 15:16 left to play. Jackson made it a 24-point lead, which was UTRGV's biggest of the game, later in the half with another layup making it 66-42 with 13:15 left to play.
 
BCU got as close as 75-60 with 6:24 after a Tabb layup but UTRGV's offense put the game away.
 
UTRGV will be back in action on November 15 at 7 p.m. when they hit the road for the first time this season to face Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, as part of the South Texas Showdown, presented by Navy Army Community Credit Union.