RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's basketball team won its non-conference finale, 85-82 over the Chicago State University Cougars on Saturday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
Senior
Justin Johnson led the Vaqueros (10-8) with 32 points, eight rebounds and five assists. It was Johnson's third 30-point game of the season. Junior
Ahren Freeman scored 13 points with five rebounds. Junior
Daylen Williamsscored 12 points with nine rebounds and six assists. Sophomore
Will Johnston scored 12 points with four assists. Sophomore
Sherman Brashear finished with eight points with six rebounds.
Elijah Weaver led the Cougars (4-16) with 26 points and nine assists.
Jahsen Corbett scored 21 points with eight rebounds.
Wesley Cardet Jr. scored 14 points with four assists.
Brent Davis scored 10 points with two steals.
Graduate student
Dima Zdor connected on a jumper and a dunk in the opening to minutes to help the Vaqueros jump out to a 12-4 lead. The Cougars responded with an 11-2 run to go up 15-14. Then, after a Freeman hook shot, the Cougars scored the next five points to regain the lead at 20-16.
The Cougars pushed their lead to five at 24-19 when a Johnston 3 sparked a 14-3 run to put the Vaqueros up 33-27
.
After a pair of Cougars baskets, sophomore
Derrius Ward made a layup to give the Vaqueros a 35-31 halftime lead.
The Vaqueros and Cougars traded baskets for the first three and a half minutes of the second half, but three of the Cougars' baskets were 3-pointers, allowing them to take a 44-43 lead.
Freeman tied the game with a free throw and then Brashear scored seven-straight points as the Vaqueros went on an 11-0 run to take a 54-44 lead.
The Cougars pulled within 57-53 before a Johnson jumper and a Williams 4-point play pushed the Vaqueros' lead to 10. The Cougars started using 3-pointers to chip away again, making the score 73-70 at the 5:01 mark.
The Cougars got as close as two three times, including 84-82 with three seconds left, but Johnston hit the first of two free throw attempts with 1.3 seconds remaining, and then after the second hit off the rim, the Cougars were unable to get the desperation heave off in time.
UTRGV resumes Western Athletic Conference play by kicking off a three-game road trip at UT Arlington on Thursday at 7 p.m. Fans can watch domestically on
ESPN+ or internationally via
WAC International.
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