CEDAR CITY, Utah – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's basketball team fell 94-88 in overtime in a hard-fought Western Athletic Conference (WAC) overtime battle Saturday to the Southern Utah Thunderbirds at the America First Event Center.
Sophomore
Will Johnston scored a career-high 31 points to lead UTRGV (8-6, 0-2 WAC). Senior
Justin Johnson contributed 25 points, three steals, three assists and four rebounds. Sophomore
Sherman Brashear added 10 points, two steals, one block and six rebounds. Sophomore
John Shanu II notched a career-high three blocks and a career-high seven points, while graduate student
Dima Zdor added nine rebounds and two blocks.
Southern Utah (10-5, 2-0 WAC) had five players with double-digit scoring –
Tevian Jones (21 points),
Jason Spurgin (18),
Harrison Butler (15),
Maizen Fausett (12) and
Drake Allen (11). Spurgin recorded five blocks, Fausett had three steals and 10 rebounds, and Allen dished out 10 assists.
After going down 8-3 early in the first half, the Vaqueros used suffocating defense to turn the tide. Brashear and Williams each scored five-straight points and combined to produce UTRGV's first 10 points, tying the game. From there, the Vaqueros took control and a three-pointer from Johnson put them on top 19-14 to match Southern Utah's largest lead of the half.
A monstrous alley-oop slam dunk by Shanu from Johnston and a Brashear 3-pointer gave the Vaqueros all the momentum. Their excellent defensive effort forced a shot clock violation and stymied the Thunderbirds as UTRGV extended the lead to a game-best 12 points.
Southern Utah went on a run late in the first half and trimmed its deficit to three points, but a massive dunk through contact by Zdor helped the Vaqueros hold a 40-35 lead at halftime.
The Thunderbirds tied the game at 44-44 early in the second half, then a crowd-energizing dunk from
Dee Barnes gave SUU its first lead since the 8-3 mark at 50-48. Turnover issues for the Vaqueros aided a run for the Thunderbirds, extending their lead to 57-50.
Shanu recorded a block that led to a strong Johnston layup to slow SUU down a bit. Johnson showed his speed and ball control to make three baskets and put UTRGV back on top 66-63. Shanu continued to play well down low for the Vaqueros, notching his career-high third block of the game on one end then hauling in a rebound and slamming it down for the putback bucket on the other, making it 68-65 Vaqueros.
The Vaqueros and Thunderbirds swapped small scoring runs in the final five minutes, creating a thrilling end to regulation with the teams knotted at 79-79. Southern Utah prevailed in overtime by opening up a seven-point lead and blocking up the paint as foul trouble gave the Thunderbirds the size advantage.
The Vaqueros return to the UTRGV Fieldhouse to begin a
UTRGV opens a four-game homestand on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. against Seattle U at the UTRGV Fieldhouse. Tickets are on sale now at
UTRGVTickets.com. Current UTRGV students receive free general admission with their student ID. All fans need to follow the clear bag policy, details of which can be found at
GoUTRGV.com/ClearBag. The party starts in Vaquero Village at 5:30 p.m.
Fans unable to attend in person can watch domestically on
ESPN+ or internationally via
WAC International.
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