NACOGDOCHES – Junior guard
Elijah Elliott scored a career-high 40 points Thursday as The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's basketball team battled the Stephen F. Austin (SFA) Lumberjacks at Johnson Coliseum, but the Vaqueros fell 92-84 in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) game.
Elliott shot 56.5% from the field, making three three-pointers and 11-of-13 free throws as he dished out two assists and recorded two steals in a dazzling individual performance to lead UTRGV (6-17, 2-10 WAC). Junior guard
Sherman Brashear added 18 points with four three-pointers and senior forward
Daylen Williams tallied 10 rebounds, four assists, two steals and four points.
Latrell Jossell led SFA (14-9, 7-5 WAC) with 24 points, seven assists and three steals.
Matt Hayman scored 15 points with seven rebounds and five assists, and
Nana Antwi-Boasiako added 12 points.
The first half was defensive at the start, with the big men battling under the hoop and UTRGV playing good defense to keep the scoring low. The Vaqueros made a pair of nice passes into the paint and used Elliott's shifty offense to keep the score close.
SFA got on a roll midway through the half, using its speedy offense to cut through the lane and finish at the basket. The Lumberjacks used an 11-0 run to take a 36-18 lead, the largest advantage of the half, with under five minutes to play.
UTRGV showed great fight to close the half, sparked by aggressive defense from redshirt freshman guard
C.J.Booker and Elliott's consistent offense. Brashear put together a scoring flurry in the final minute, knocking down three consecutive buckets with a mid-range jumper and a pair of three-pointers. The half ended with four threes in a row in the final 45 minutes, with SFA making two to hold a 47-36 lead at the break.
The Vaqueros came out strong to start the second half. Elliott snatched a steal and dished it out to Brashear, who stayed hot despite the pause in action and hit a quick-trigger three-pointer. On the next possession, Brashear was fouled behind the arc and hit all three free throws to cut the deficit to 51-44.
UTRGV upped its defensive intensity while momentum was on its side, forcing sloppy passes from the 'Jacks that the Vaqueros intercepted for steals. They turned the defense into offense and kept the gap in single digits behind fast transitions led by Elliott. After a pair of free throws from Elliott, UTRGV cut the deficit to 58-53.
With 13 minutes to play, the Vaqueros flipped the game on its head. UTRGV went on a 9-0 run, locking down defensively and playing extremely fast on offense. Booker found freshman
J.J. Howard with a great pass to spark the run, then Elliott put a defender on skates and knocked down a three. After a pair of free throws from Williams to tie the contest, Elliott raced through the defense for a driving layup to put the Vaqueros up, 62-60, taking the lead with 11:57 to play for the first time since the first basket of the game.
The game slowed down after UTRGV's flurry, and the 'Jacks used a 5-0 run to create a little bit of space. Elliott hit a tough jumper to keep it a one-possession contest at 71-68. But SFA put together another run to grow the lead to nine and stayed in the driver's seat from that point on, extending the advantage to 83-69 with under four to play.
Elliott's motor never slowed down. He scored UTRGV's next 10 points, turning in an incredible performance, but SFA pulled away late and secured the win.
The Vaqueros will be back in action Feb. 15 at the UTRGV Fieldhouse in a 6:30 p.m. WAC contest against Abilene Christian. Tickets can be purchased at GoUTRGV.com/Tickets. Current UTRGV students get free 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 unable to attend an watch domestically on ESPN+ or internationally via WACInternational.tv.
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