RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's basketball team dropped the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) home opener to the Grand Canyon University Lopes 84-70 on Thursday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
 
Graduate student Mike Adewunmi led the Vaqueros (5-9, 0-2 WAC) with a season-high 20 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks for his second double-double of the season. Junior Justin Johnson scored 16 points with seven rebounds and four assists. Junior LaQuan Butler scored 10 points with two assists. Graduate student Marek Nelson scored nine points with two steals and one block. Junior Ricky "Doc" Nelson scored seven points with five rebounds and two assists.
 
Gabe McGlothan led the Lopes (12-2, 2-0 WAC) with 18 points and two steals. Holland Woods II scored 17 points with seven assists and two steals. Sean Miller-Moore scored 15 points with five rebounds. Jovan Blacksher Jr. scored 13 points with six assists and two steals.
 
The Vaqueros led 3-2 on a Marek Nelson three in the opening minutes, but the Lopes scored the next eight points to go up 10-3. The Vaqueros responded with a 6-2 run, capped by an Adewunmi layup, to pull within 12-9.
 
The Lopes scored nine of the next 11 points to push their lead to 21-11 before layups by Marek Nelson and Johnson made the score 21-15.
 
The Lopes increased their lead to 32-19, but the Vaqueros responded with a 9-3 run to pull within 35-28 on an Adewunmi layup late in the first half.
 
The Lopes extended their lead to 49-35 early in the second before a pair of Adewunmi free throws and a Johnson three-point play brought the Vaqueros within 49-40, but the Lopes answered with a 14-0 run to go up 63-40.
 
Adewunmi scored 10 points as the Vaqueros outscored the Lopes 21-10 over the next six minutes to pull within 73-61.
 
An Adewunmi three brought the Vaqueros within 76-64 with 3:31 remaining, but that's as close as they got.
 
UTRGV hosts New Mexico State on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the UTRGV Fieldhouse. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at UTRGVTickets.com. The party starts in Vaquero Village at 5:30 p.m. 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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