RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's basketball team led with 1:27 remaining and had shot attempts to win and tie the game in the closing seconds before falling to the defending Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Champion Seattle U Redhawks 66-64 on Thursday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
Senior
Justin Johnson led the Vaqueros (8-7, 0-3 WAC) with 19 points, 10 rebounds and three assists for his second double-double. Graduate student
Dima Zdor scored 13 points with four rebounds. Junior
Daylen Williams posted his second double-double with a career-high 12 points, a career-high 15 rebounds and three assists. Sophomore
Sherman Brashear scored 11 points with a career-high tying eight rebounds. Sophomore
Will Johnston finished with five points, six assists and three rebounds.
Cameron Tyson led the Redhawks (11-4, 2-0 WAC) with 27 points, six rebounds and two steals.
Alex Schumacher scored 16 points.
The Vaqueros led by as much as five in the second half, going up 55-49 on a free throw by junior
Ahren Freeman with 5:28 remaining. The Vaqueros again led by five at 59-54 on a pair of Williams free throws at the 4:17 mark.
The Redhawks scored the next six points to take the lead before a Brashear 3-pointer put the Vaqueros up 62-60 with 1:27 to go.
Schumacher hit four free throws and a layup to put the Redhawks up 66-62 with 21 seconds remaining. Seven seconds later, a Johnson layup made the score 66-64.
On the next possession,
Matthew Levis was sent to the line. He missed both shots. Johnston got the rebound and passed to Johnson who created space for a 3 from the right wing. The ball hit off the front of the iron. Brashear leapt through traffic for the rebound and tried to put the ball back in with 0.6 seconds remaining but missed to the left of the rim.
After a Zdor bucket to open the game, the Redhawks scored eight-straight points to take an 8-2 lead. Williams hit a 3 and Johnson followed with a floater to bring the Vaqueros within 8-7.
A 3-pointer by junior
C.J. Jackson tied the game at 10 before back-to-back Redhawks baskets made the score 15-10.
The Redhawks still led by five at 19-14 when the Vaqueros went on a 13-0 run, capped by back-to-back Brashear 3-pointers, to take a 27-19 lead.
The Redhawks closed the half on an 8-2 run to pull within two before scoring the first five points of the second half to take a 32-29 lead.
A Zdor 3-point play and a Johnston 3-pointer sparked an 8-1 run to give the Vaqueros a 37-33 lead.
The Redhawks scored the next four points to tie the game. The Vaqueros restored their four-point lead on a Williams hook shot that made the score 41-37.
After the Redhawks tied the game at 41, the Vaqueros went on a 7-3 run to take a 48-44 lead.
UTRGV hosts Utah Valley at the UTRGV Fieldhouse on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. 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 Schlotzsky's 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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