CORPUS CHRISTI – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's basketball team fell to the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders 75-69 as part of the South Texas Showdown, presented by Navy Army Community Credit Union, on Wednesday at the American Bank Center.
 
Junior Justin Johnson led the Vaqueros (4-6) with 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Junior Ricky "Doc" Nelson scored a career-high tying 17 points while going a season-high tying 3-for-4 from behind the arc and dishing out five assists. Graduate student Xavier Johnson scored 12 points. Freshman RayQuan Taylor posted his first-career double-double with 11 points and a career-high 19 rebounds, the highest single-game total for the program since Jan. 19, 2002, when Marcus Quinn had 19 at home against Gardner-Webb.
 
Isaac Mushila led the Islanders (8-1) with 27 points and 14 rebounds. Simeon Fryer scored 18 points with three steals. Jalen Jackson finished with 14 points.
 
The Vaqueros hit five of their first eight shots while jumping out to a 13-4 lead over the opening five minutes.
 
The Islanders pulled to within 16-11 seven minutes later before Nelson bookended a 10-0 run with three-pointers to put the Vaqueros up 26-11.
 
The Vaqueros still led by 15 at 29-14 after a trio of Xavier Johnson free throws. The Islanders scored nine of the next 10 points to pull within seven.
 
It was still a seven-point game, 36-29, at the start of the second half, when the Islanders went on a 10-4 run to climb to within 40-39.
 
Xavier Johnson responded with a layup to spark a 9-4 run that put the Vaqueros up 49-43, but the Islanders scored the next eight points to take their first lead at 50-49 with 11:31 remaining.
 
The Vaqueros regained the lead three times, including at 56-54 on a Justin Johnson three two minutes later, but the Islanders scored the next six points to take the lead for good.
 
UTRGV hosts Texas Southern at Bert Ogden Arena on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at BertOgdenArena.com. The game is part of a single-admission doubleheader, as the women's basketball team faces Texas A&M-Corpus Christi as the next event in the South Texas Showdown, presented by Navy Army Community Credit Union, at 5 p.m. Doors open at 4. Those unable to attend the game in person can watch in the United States on ESPN+ or internationally on the WAC Digital Network.

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