RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's basketball team won its second-straight game, beating the Utah Valley University Wolverines 76-68 on Saturday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
Senior
Daylen Williams led the Vaqueros (6-11, 2-4 WAC) with 14 points, six rebounds and four assists. Freshman
J.J. Howard scored 14 points while hitting a career-high tying two 3-pointers for the second-straight game to go with a career high-tying three blocks and a career high-tying two steals. Junior
Elijah Elliott scored 14 points with four rebounds and five assists. Senior
Ahren Freeman scored 11 points with three rebounds and two steals. Junior
Hasan Abdul-Hakimscored 10 points with four rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block.
Trevin Dorius led the Wolverines (8-9, 3-3 WAC) with 14 points and eight rebounds.
Jaden McClanahan scored 12 points with three rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Drake Allen scored 11 points with two blocks.
The Vaqueros hit five of their first eight shots, including a pair of 3-pointers, to jump out to a 14-6 lead on a Freeman 3-pointer.
The Vaqueros led 20-13 on an Elliott jumper when back-to-back Wolverines baskets made it a one possession game, but Elliott hit a 3 and sophomore
Saliou Seye drove for a layup off a steal to put the Vaqueros up 25-17.
The Wolverines responded with an 8-2 run to climb within 27-25 before a Freeman layup and Abdul-Hakim and Elliott free throws made the score 31-25.
A Seye hook shot closed the half and then Howard and Freeman made baskets in the opening minute of the second to put the Vaqueros up 37-28.
Then, with the lead cut to four, Williams hit a hook shot, Howard made a layup followed by a dunk off a steal, and Seye sunk a free throw to push the Vaqueros' lead to 44-33.
The Wolverines followed with an 11-3 run to pull within 47-44.
The Vaqueros extended their lead to 53-46 on a jumper by freshman
C.J. Booker and again led by seven at 55-48 on a pair of Williams free throws.
The Vaqueros pushed their lead to eight at 59-51 on an Elliott layup and 62-53 on a Howard 3-pointer.
The Wolverines got as close as three twice, including 67-64 with 2:27 remaining, but Williams hit two free throws, Howard threw down a dunk, and then Elliott sunk a pair of free throws to put the game on ice.
UTRGV visits UT Arlington on Thursday at 7 p.m. Fans can watch domestically on
ESPN+ or internationally via
WAC International.
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