RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's basketball team fell to the Abilene Christian Wildcats 87-79 on Thursday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse in front of a crowd of 2,041.
Senior
Daylen Williams led the Vaqueros (6-18, 2-11 WAC) with a career-high 24 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals. Junior
Elijah Elliott scored 22 points with six assists and two steals. Junior
Hasan Abdul-Hakim scored eight points with seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Hunter Jack Madden led the Wildcats (9-15, 4-9 WAC) with 27 points.
Ali Abdou Dibba scored 16 points with 10 rebounds, four assists and two blocks.
Leonardo Bettiol scored 15 points with five rebounds.
Airion Simmons scored 13 points with three assists.
Kavion McClain scored 11 points with eight assists.
The Wildcats made their first six shots while building a 12-5 lead. The Vaqueros responded with a 7-2 run, capped by an Elliott 3-point play, to pull within 14-12.
Down 19-15, junior
Sherman Brashear drained a 3 and Abdul-Hakim made a layup to give the Vaqueros their first lead at 20-19.
The Vaqueros led again at 22-21 on a Williams jumper before the Wildcats went on a 6-0 run to restore their lead.
The Vaqueros pulled within a basket at 32-29 on a pair of Williams free throws before the Wildcats scored the next five points to take their largest lead of the half at 37-29.
Freshman
C.J. Booker closed the half with a layup and then Elliott scored nine points over the first 3:17 of the second half to power a 14-2 run and put the Vaqueros up 43-39.
The Wildcats took the lead back at 49-48. Williams responded with a pair of free throws and then Elliott hit a jumper to give the Vaqueros a 52-49 lead.
Another Williams layup made the score 54-52 before the Wildcats went on a 19-2 run to take a 70-56 advantage.
The Wildcats took their largest lead at 78-63 with 7:30 remaining. The Vaqueros followed with a 13-2 run to climb to within 80-76.
The Vaqueros were still within four at 82-78 with 1:12 remaining, but that's as close as they got.
UTRGV hosts UT Arlington on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at the UTRGV Fieldhouse for homecoming, the battle of the college, and faculty & staff appreciation night. All the colleges on campus will compete for two trophies – one based on attendance by students, faculty, and staff, and one based on a free throw competition involving the deans. Additionally, current UTRGV faculty and staff get free admission for with an employee ID.
Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at
GoUTRGV.com/Tickets. Current UTRGV students receive free general admission with their student ID. All fans need to follow the clear bag policy, details of which can be found at
GoUTRGV.com/ClearBag. The party starts in Schlotzsky's Vaquero Village at 5 p.m.
Fans can watch domestically on
ESPN+ or internationally via
WAC International. The game will also air on regional sports networks around the country, including Cox Communications' YurView TV, which will air the game live, on Space City Home Network, which will air the game at 11 p.m.
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