RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's basketball was within four late before dropping the Western Athletic Conference opener to the Grand Canyon Lopes 79-69 on Wednesday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse in front of a boisterous crowd of a 1,944.
Junior
Hasan Abdul-Hakim led the Vaqueros (2-6, 0-1) with a career-high 21 points and eight rebounds. Junior
Elijah Elliott scored 13 points with four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Sophomore
Isaiah Barganier scored a season-high 11 points. Freshman
J.J. Howard scored 10 points with three assists.
Tyon Grant-Foster led the Lopes (5-1, 1-0) with 25 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks.
Ray Harrison scored 21 points with five assists, two steals and three blocks.
The Vaqueros kept the game close throughout the first half. Only once did they fall behind by more than two possessions, going down seven at 18-11. That's when Barganier hit two free throws to a layup to spark an 11-3 run to give the Vaqueros their first lead at 22-21.
Junior
Sherman Brashear put the Vaqueros on top again with a 3-pointer that made the score 25-24 with 4:05 remaining in the first half.
The Lopes led by five at the half, but Elliott opened the second half with a 3-pointer to make the score 35-33. Another Elliott 3 again brought the Vaqueros within two at 41-39.
The Lopes followed with a 10-1 run to go up 51-40. The Vaqueros pulled within seven at 54-47 on an Abdul-Hakim layup midway through the half.
The Lopes pushed their lead back to 11, going up 70-59 with 3:30 remaining. That's when Abdul-Hakim hit a layup and five free throws to bring the Vaqueros to within 70-66 just over a minute later.
Grant-Foster answered with a 3-pointer as the Lopes closed the game on a 9-3 run.
UTRGV continues WAC play against Tarleton State on Saturday at 4 p.m. Fans can watch domestically on
ESPN+ or internationally via
WAC International.
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