BEAUMONT – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's basketball team came back from a nine-point deficit to beat the Lamar University Cardinals 67-63 on Wednesday at the Montagne Center.
Junior
Justin Johnson led the Vaqueros (8-21, 3-14 WAC) with 23 points, 10 rebounds and two steals for his third double-double of the season. Graduate student
Xavier Johnson scored 15 points with five rebounds and three assists. Graduate student
Marek Nelson scored 12 points with five rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
Brock McClure led the Cardinals (2-26, 0-17 WAC) with 12 points, six rebounds and two steals.
Lincoln Smith scored 11 points with five rebounds.
C.J. Roberts finished with 11 points.
Jordyn Adams scored 10 points with five rebounds, five assists and two steals.
The Vaqueros trailed 54-45 with 8:10 remaining. The Vaqueros scored the next six points to make the score 54-51 on a
Xavier Johnson layup.
After three Cardinals free throws, a pair of
Marek Nelson free throws and a pair of Adewunmi free throughs brought the Vaqueros within 57-55.
Then, after the Cardinals went up 60-55,
Justin Johnson converted a 3-point play,
Marek Nelson came up with a steal and finished with a layup to tie the game, and sophomore
Quinton Johnson II stole an inbound pass to set up a go-ahead layup by
Xavier Johnson.
After a pair of Roberts free throws, junior
Ricky "Doc" Nelson made a layup to put the Vaqueros up 64-62.
McClure followed with a free throw, but
Justin Johnson made a jumper with 14 seconds left a free throw with two seconds left to put the game on ice.
The Vaqueros led 2-0 in the opening minutes on free throws by freshman
RayQuan Taylor and
Justin Johnson. The Cardinals followed with an 11-4 run to go up 11-6.
Justin Johnson answered with a pair of free throws and then Taylor made a layup to bring the Vaqueros within one.
The Cardinals pushed their lead back to five at 19-14 before a
Xavier Johnson 3 started a 9-5 run, capped by a
Marek Nelson 3, to bring the Vaqueros within 24-23 at the half.
The Cardinals scored the first four points of the second half before a Nelson dunk and a pair of free throws by Doc Nelson brought the Vaqueros back within one.
The Cardinals outscored the Vaqueros 16-8 over the next four minutes to take a 44-35 lead.
Xavier Johnson responded with a 3 and a jumper to bring the Vaqueros within 44-40.
The Cardinals pushed back with a 10-5 run to go up 54-45.
UTRGV hosts Stephen F. Austin to close out the regular season 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 the Schlotzsky's 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 at
WACSports.com/Watch.
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