RIO GRANDE VALLEY – In a game that wasn't separated by more than two possessions until the final minute, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's basketball team fell to the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks 85-78 on Thursday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse in front of a crowd of 1,031.
Senior
Ahren Freeman led the Vaqueros (4-10, 0-3 WAC) with a career-high tying 26 points, 11 rebounds, a season high-tying three assists and a season high-tying two steals for his second double-double. Junior
Hasan Abdul-Hakim scored 18 points with seven rebounds and seven assists. Freshman
J.J. Howard finished with 14 points.
Frank Staine led the Lumberjacks (9-5, 2-1 WAC) with 21 points with two steals.
Nana Antwi-Boasiako scored 17 points and six rebounds.
AJ Cajuste scored 11 points with six assists.
Abdul-Hakim and Howard hit layups as the Vaqueros scored the first four points en route to a 9-3 lead. The 'Jacks scored the next four points to pull within two before 3-pointers by Howard and senior
Daylen Williams sandwiched another 'Jacks layup to keep the Vaqueros in the lead.
The Vaqueros pushed their lead to six at 18-12 on a Howard free throw and the game stayed within one or two possessions until the 'Jacks tied the game for the first time at the 4:20 mark and then took their first lead, 33-31, 37 seconds later.
The Vaqueros regained the lead at 34-33 on an Abdul-Hakim layup. Then, down 36-34, Abdul-Hakim tied the game with free throws and freshman
C.J. Booker hit a pull up jumper to put the Vaqueros up 38-36.
A Freeman 3-point play put the Vaqueros up 44-41 early in the second half, but the 'Jacks went on an 11-3 run to go up 52-47.
Then, with the score 55-51, Booker drilled a 3 and Freeman and Howard made layups to restore the Vaqueros' lead at 58-55.
The 'Jacks scored five of the next six points to take the lead before an Abdul-Hakim free throw and a Freeman layup put the Vaqueros up 62-60.
The lead continued to fluctuate back and forth, with the Vaqueros going up 68-66 on a Freeman 3-point play, 71-70 on a Williams free throw, and 73-72 on an Elliott jumper with 2:19 remaining. The 'Jacks, however, went on an 11-1 run to push their lead to three possessions for the first time with 41 seconds remaining and take the lead for good.
UTRGV visits Abilene Christian on Saturday at 5 p.m. Fans can watch domestically on
ESPN+ or internationally via
WAC International.
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