RIVERSIDE, Calif. – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's basketball team fell to the California Baptist University Lancers 80-72 on Saturday at the CBU Events Center.
Junior
Justin Johnson led the Vaqueros (7-18, 2-11 WAC) with a career-high 38 points, six rebounds and two steals. This was the highest-scoring output by a Vaquero since Nov. 15, 2017, when
Nick Dixon dropped 39 points at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Freshman
RayQuan Taylor posted his third double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds (career-high tying six offensive). It was Taylor's third-straight game with 12+ rebounds, all of which have come on the road. Taylor is the only freshman in the NCAA with four games of 12+ rebounds on the road this season. Graduate student
Marek Nelson scored seven points with four assists and three steals. Graduate student
Xavier Johnson also scored seven points.
Taran Armstrong led the Lancers (14-11, 4-8 WAC) with 18 points and nine assists.
Ty Rowell scored 16 points with five assists.
Tre Armstrong scored 16 points with three rebounds.
Dan Akin scored 12 points with 17 rebounds.
Taylor opened the game with a pair of boards and buckets. His second basket kicked off a 9-0 run to put the Vaqueros up 11-4.
The Lancers came back to within one at 11-10 and 16-15 before a
Justin Johnson 3-point play and layup put the Vaqueros up 21-16.
The Lancers scored the next seven points to regain the lead, going up by as much as three twice, including 32-29. Another
Justin Johnson 3-point play and a Nelson dunk, though, sent the game to the locker room tied at 34.
The Lancers opened the second half on a 10-0 run to take a 44-34 lead.
Justin Johnson made a pair of free throws and Nelson followed with a layup to bring the Vaqueros within six, but the Lancers scored the next six points to push their lead to 50-38.
The Vaqueros pulled within 10 twice, including 52-42 with 11:22 remaining, but the Lancers responded with a 7-0 run to push their lead to 17.
The Lancers still led by 17 at 71-54 with 4:06 remaining when Taylor made a layup and a dunk, Johnson followed with back-to-back layups and then Taylor hit another layup to bring the Vaqueros within 71-64, but that's as close as they got.
UTRGV hosts Seattle U on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the UTRGV Fieldhouse. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at
UTRGVTickets.com. The party starts in the Schlotzsky's Vaquero Village at 5:30 p.m. UTRGV will kick off homecoming weekend with the lighting of the UTRGV letters in the parking lot at 6:30 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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