CORPUS CHRISTI – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's basketball team battled from an 18-point deficit but fell 79-74 to the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders on Saturday at the American Bank Center as part of the South Texas Showdown, presented Rally Credit Union.
The Islanders now lead 16 to 7 in the showdown standings with the next event being a basketball doubleheader at the UTRGV Fieldhouse on Feb. 1.
The Vaqueros (10-6, 2-3 SLC) finished with four in double-figures with senior
Hasan Abdul Hakim leading all scorers with 20 points while adding six rebounds, five assists, and four blocks. Junior
Trey Miller scored 16 points with four assists. Graduate student
DK Thorn added 15 points while hitting three three-pointers and redshirt junior
Howie Fleming Jr. added 12 points with eight rebounds.
The Islanders (12-6, 4-1 SLC) got 18 points from
Isaac Williams while
Jaden Walker added 12 points.
Garry Clark score 11 points and grabbed 15 rebounds and
Damarion Dennis also chipped in with 11 points.
The Vaqueros found themselves trailing by 15 at the start of the second half but an 11-3 run kick started by a Fleming Jr. layup got them within 46-37. The Vaqueros got three-straight threes from Abdul Hakim, senior
Cliff Davis, and Thorn to climb within 51-48 with just under 13 minutes left to play.
The Islanders pushed their lead to 57-48 on three-straight baskets but Abdul Hakim knocked down a jumper to get a 16-7 run started for the Vaqueros that saw them tie the game at 64-64. The Islanders took advantage of the free throw line to push their lead to 77-72 to keep the Vaqueros at bay the rest of the way.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi jumped out to a 13-2 to open the game. Later in the first half, a three-pointer from Abdul Hakim got UTRGV within 22-12.
The Islanders pushed their lead back to 27-12 by converting from the free throw line and getting another jumper from Williams with just over seven minutes left in the half. Both teams exchanged buckets over the final five minutes of the half as the Vaqueros found themselves trailing 41-26 at the half.
The Vaqueros will be back in action on Monday when they host the East Texas A&M Lions for the first Monday Madness at 6:30 p.m. at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
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 5:30 p.m.
Fans unable to attend in person can watch domestically on
ESPN+ or internationally via
Southland International.
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