ST. GEORGE, Utah – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's basketball team fell to the Utah Tech Trailblazers 81-64 on Thursday at Burns Arena.
Freshman
C.J. Booker led the Vaqueros (6-15, 2-8 WAC) with a career-high 19 points while hitting a career-high tying three 3-pointers. Freshman
J.J. Howard scored a career-high 19 points on a career-high 8-of-14 shooting with three rebounds, two assists, a career-high three steals and one block. Senior
Daylen Williams scored nine points with three rebounds and one block. Sophomore
Saliou Seye scored eight points with three rebounds and one block.
Aric Demings and
Tennessee Rainwater led the Trailblazers (8-13, 4-6 WAC) with 12 points each.
Tanner Christensen scored 11 points with 11 rebounds, four assists, and two blocks.
Jaylen Searles scored 11 points with six rebounds and four assists.
Noa Gonsalves scored 11 points with four rebounds and three assists.
The Trailblazers jumped out to a 9-2 lead before Williams nailed a 3 and senior
Ahren Freeman made a free throw to bring the Vaqueros within a basket. The Trailblazers, however, responded with a 14-2 run to go up 23-8.
Sophomore
Alex Horiuk, Booker and Howard answered with consecutive layups. Then, with the score 28-16, Howard hit three jumpers and Booker made a pair of 3-pointers to power a 12-0 run to tie the game at 28.
The Trailblazers scored the next five points before Seye and Howard hit baskets to bring the Vaqueros back to within one in the final minute of the first half.
The Vaqueros and Trailblazers traded baskets to start the second half. The Vaqueros were within three on three occasions, including 42-39 on a Williams layup.
The Vaqueros were within four at 47-43 after a Howard layup before the Trailblazers scored eight-straight points as part of a 16-3 run to take a 63-46 lead.
Booker bookended a 9-3 run with jumpers to bring the Vaqueros within 66-55. Seye hit a pair of free throws to make it an 11-point game once more at 68-57 with 4:58 remaining, but that's as close as the Vaqueros got.
UTRGV visits Southern Utah on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Fans can watch domestically on
ESPN+ or internationally via
WAC International.
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