RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's basketball team beat the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders 89-82 as part of the South Texas Showdown, presented by Navy Army Community Credit Union, on Wednesday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
 
The Vaqueros (5-3) earn three points and now lead the Islanders (4-4) 19-10 in the showdown standings.
 
Sophomore Will Johnston led the Vaqueros with a career-high 29 points and three assists. Senior Justin Johnsonscored 17 points with seven rebounds and two assists. Graduate student Dima Zdor scored 11 points with six rebounds and three blocks. Junior Ahren Freeman scored 11 points. Freshman Adante' Holiman hit a pair of 3-pointers en route to 10 points and two assists.
 
Isaac Mushila led the Islanders with 26 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and four steals. Terrion Murdix scored 15 points with five assists. Simeon Fryer scored 13 points with three assists. Ross Williams scored 11 points with three assists and two steals.
 
The Vaqueros jumped out to a 6-0 lead when Johnson hit a step back 3 two and a half minutes into the game. After the Islanders hit back-to-back 3s, the Vaqueros went on another 6-0 run, this one including two layups and a free throw by Freeman, to go up 12-6.
 
The Islanders used a 9-1 run to take their first lead at 15-14 before a Freeman layup and a Holiman 3 restored the Vaqueros' advantage.
 
The Islanders scored the next eight points. Holiman knocked down a 3 and then sophomore Sherman Brashear made a layup to put the Vaqueros up 24-23. The Islanders responded with an 8-0 run to go up 31-24. The Vaqueros got as close as two when a Johnston 3 made the score 36-34 before a 6-1 run put the Islanders up 42-35.
 
Johnston scored the final four points of the half to bring the Vaqueros within 42-39 at halftime.
 
The Islanders pushed their lead to 48-42 in the opening minutes of the second half before the Vaqueros went on a 7-0 run, capped by a Johnston layup, to regain the lead.
 
The lead fluctuated back and forth from there, but with his team down 61-57 at the 11:30 mark, a Zdor dunk sparked a 16-4 run to give the Vaqueros a 73-65 lead that they never relinquished.
 
UTRGV visits Western Illinois on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. on ESPN+.
 
The next event of the South Texas Showdown, presented by Navy Army Community Credit Union, is on Saturday at 2 p.m. when UTRGV visits Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in women's basketball.

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