RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's basketball team fell to the Tarleton State University Texas 65-47 on Friday to close out the Bert Ogden Arena Series, presented by the City of Edinburg.
 
Junior Uche Dibiamaka led the Vaqueros (9-8, 2-4 WAC) with 11 points and four rebounds. Junior Ricky "Doc" Nelson scored nine points with four assists. Junior Marek Nelson scored eight points. Senior Javon Levi scored seven points with seven rebounds, four assists and two steals. Graduate student Jeff Otchere finished with five blocks.
 
Freddy Hicks led the Texans (9-10, 4-7 WAC) with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Montre' Gipson scored 17 points with four rebounds. Shakur Daniel scored 10 points.
 
The Vaqueros led early, going up 3-0 on a three by sophomore Quinton Johnson II and 5-2 when Nelson finished an alley-oop.
 
The Texans went up 8-6 before a three by junior LaQuan Butler put the Vaqueros back on top.
 
The game was tied at 17 after a Dibiamaka three, but the Texans followed with eight-straight points to take the lead. A Dibiamaka three and a Levi jumper brought the Vaqueros to within 25-22, but the Texans responded with a 9-0 run to go up 34-22.
 
Dibiamaka opened up the second half with a layup, but the Texans responded with eight-straight points.
 
The Vaqueros got as close as 11 when a Dibiamaka jumper made the score 46-35 with 11:27 remaining.
 
UTRGV and Tarleton close out the regular season on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the UTRGV Fieldhouse. There will be a special ceremony prior to the game honoring UTRGV's six seniors and graduate students UTRGV Athletics is capping capacity at the UTRGV Fieldhouse at 255 fans made up of current UTRGV students, season ticket holders, corporate partners, and families of student-athletes and coaches. Doors open at 6. For more information about game day, visit GoUTRGV.com/game-day.
 
Fans can also watch for free online at WACDigitalNetwork.com.

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