RIO GRANDE VALLEY – A career-high 36 points from The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) men's basketball sophomore
Will Johnston sparked a thrilling 99-95 overtime victory for the Vaqueros on Saturday against the Tarleton Texans at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
Johnston drained a career-high seven three-pointers, including two in the overtime period, to give UTRGV (15-15, 6-11 Western Athletic Conference) the edge in the back-and-forth contest. Senior
Justin Johnson scored 16 points and dished out six assists with seven rebounds and one steal in his final home game. Junior
Ahren Freeman and graduate student
Dima Zdor each scored 13, and freshman
Adante' Holiman added 12. Junior
Daylen Williams recorded nine rebounds and nine assists. Freeman had eight rebounds and Holiman tallied five assists.
After the game, UTRGV head coach
Matt Figger grabbed the public address announcer's mic and thanked the fans for cheering the Vaqueros to victory on Saturday and supporting them all season. He ended by saying "We got a lot more things to do."
Tarleton (15-15, 9-9 WAC) was led by
Shamir Bogues 19 points.
Shakur Daniel added 15 points and a team-high five assists.
Jakorie Smith, Kiandre Gaddy and
Lue Williams contributed 14, 13 and 11 points, respectively. Bogues and Smith swiped five steals each and Daniel had three.
The Vaqueros and Texans exchanged baskets in the early part of the game. After UTRGV went up 10-6, Tarleton went on a 7-0 run to get back on top. Holiman ended the run with a tough layup, finishing the reverse through traffic. Johnson tied the game at 15-15 with a free throw, then the squads went back to swapping scores to keep the contest tight throughout the first half.
Johnston knocked down a pair of free throws to tie the game again at 24-24. After a block by Williams resulted in a shot clock violation, Johnston drained back-to-back three-pointers to extend UTRGV's lead to 30-26.
Tarleton closed the first half on an 8-3 run to take a 40-38 lead into the locker room at halftime. Holiman drained a three-pointer with seven seconds on the clock to trim the lead. Tarleton forced 14 UTRGV turnovers in the first half to help them gain control of the contest.
The Texans started the second half strong to open up a 47-40 advantage. A three from Johnston and a hook shot from Williams tied the game, then the teams once again started swapping baskets and leads.
With the game tied at 66-66, UTRGV went on a 5-0 to create its biggest cushion of the second half. The Vaqueros were efficient at the free throw line, making 12-of-15 in the second half and hitting some clutch ones late to maintain a slim lead in the tight, back-and-forth battle.
Johnson dished out two massive assists to put UTRGV on top late, first feeding Johnston as he nailed his fifth three-pointer of the night and then setting up an alley-oop dunk by
Dima Zdor. But with UTRGV up 83-81, a blocking foul was called against the Vaqueros and Tarleton's basket was made. Tarleton, however, missed the free throw, leaving the contest tied once again at 83-83.
Both teams made eight free throws in the overtime period. Along with Johnston's three-pointers, UTRGV outrebounding Tarleton 6-2 in overtime made a massive difference. Freeman and Williams were major contributors down the stretch.
Trailing 97-94, Tarleton recorded back-to-back offensive rebounds to take two three-pointers, but UTRGV's inspired defensive effort caused two misses. The Vaqueros controlled the boards and were dynamite at the free throw line to secure the win.
UTRGV closes its regular season on the road against California Baptist on Wednesday at 9 p.m.
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