RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's basketball team closed out the regular season with a 93-63 loss to the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks on Saturday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
UTRGV enters the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Tournament as the #9 seed and will face #8 California Baptist in the first round on Tuesday at 8 p.m. at Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Those unable to attend the game in person can watch in the United States on
ESPN+ or internationally at
WACSports.com/Watch.
Junior
Justin Johnson led the Vaqueros (8-22, 3-15 WAC) with 20 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Sophomore
Quinton Johnson II scored eight points. Freshman
Donte Houston Jr. finished with seven points.
Gavin Kensmill led the Lumberjacks (22-8, 14-4 WAC) with 33 points and nine rebounds.
Calvin Solomon scored 13 points with seven rebounds and four assists.
Latrell Jossell scored 11 points with four assists and two steals.
Sadaidriene Hall scored 10 points with four rebounds.
Junior
Ricky "Doc" Nelson opened the game with a jumper to put the Vaqueros up 2-0 and then hit a pair of free throws to make the score 4-2.
The Lumberjacks scored the next six points before Nelson found graduate student
Marek Nelson for an alley-oop to make the score 8-6.
The Lumberjacks hit their next four shots to go on an 11-0 run and take a 19-6 lead.
Quinton Johnson knocked down a 3-pointer before the Lumberjacks scored the next five points.
The Vaqueros pulled within 12 twice, first at 26-14 on a floater by graduate student
Xavier Johnson and then at 28-16 on a layup by graduate student
Mike Adewunmi, but the Lumberjacks responded with a 9-2 run to take their largest lead of the half at 37-18 with 1:43 remaining.
The Lumberjacks were up 57-32 early in the second half when
Marek Nelson hit a floater to spark a 17-6 run that brought the Vaqueros within 63-49 at the 10:39 mark. The Vaqueros hit all six of their shots during the run.
The Lumberjacks responded by scoring seven-straight points as part of a 13-2 run to push the game out of reach.
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