RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's basketball team rallied late but was defeated, 71-69, in a competitive Southland Conference (SLC) game against the Nicholls Colonels Wednesday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
Freshman guard
Julien Gomez led UTRGV (5-8, 1-3 SLC) with career highs of 16 points, four three-pointers and nine rebounds. Sophomore guard
Jaylen Washington scored a career-high 17 points and dished out six assists. Junior forward
Filip Brankovic added 14 points with five rebounds and two blocks.
Jalik Dunkley paced Nicholls (5-8, 4-0 SLC) with a double-double, scoring 22 points with 12 rebounds and three blocks.
Jaylen Searles added 13 points with a team-high four assists and
Sincere Malone scored 10 with three steals.
The first 15 points of the game were scored via three-pointers, with the Colonels knocking down three early deep shots and Gomez making two for UTRGV. Nicholls found the first bit of separation, taking a 23-13 lead, but the Vaqueros responded well. UTRGV kept the Colonels off the board for two and a half minutes while going on a 7-0 run with a three from junior guard
Koree Cotton.
Brankovic and Gomez were the sparkplugs for a strong finish to the half for UTRGV. Brankovic used two strong drives to the hoop to have UTRGV within three, then the Vaqueros turned defense into offense as a block by Washington led to a layup from redshirt junior
Marshal Destremau to get within 27-26. Nicholls called timeout and the Vaqueros came off the court fired up as they hit another level of intensity.
UTRGV continued its high-energy play and took its first lead at 30-28 with 3:06 to play. Gomez and Brankovic both scored on second chance shots after showing great effort, and Cotton recorded a block to slow the Colonels down. Nicholls answered with a 5-0 run started by its sixth three of the half, but UTRGV used its own 5-0 run to close the half and took a 39-35 lead to the locker room. Graduate student
Zae Blake drained a three at the buzzer and had the Vaqueros with all the momentum heading to the break.
The Vaqueros quickly got on the board to start the second half, extending the lead to six points. But Nicholls came right back with an 8-0 run to regain the lead at 43-41. Graduate student
Marvin McGhee III contributed key minutes to get UTRGV fired up after the run, snagging a steal that turned into a basket and knocking down a three to give the Vaqueros a 46-43 lead with 15:29 on the clock.
The teams swapped scores, ties and lead changes as the game found another level of physicality. After a brief scuffle, double technical fouls were called, and both teams made one free throw to keep the game knotted at 49-49. The Colonels used aggressive defense to keep the Vaqueros scoreless for over three minutes and scored seven unanswered in the stretch to take a 60-55 lead.
Cotton swiped a steal and took the turnover straight to the hoop to end the drought and make it a one-possession game. Nicholls responded to push its lead to 65-57 with four minutes to play. Washington came up big to anchor UTRGV's late rally. The sophomore made two baskets and had the assist on a corner three for Gomez, then nailed two clutch free throws to get within 67-66 with 23 seconds to play. The Colonels were sharp at the free throw line to push the gap to 71-66, which came up big as Gomez hit a last-second three to give UTRGV a chance late.
The Vaqueros will play Saturday at 4:30 p.m. against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the South Texas Showdown, presented by Rally Credit Union, following a women's game at 2 p.m. The first 400 fans in attendance for both games will receive a free #BeatCorpus t-shirt. There will be free food for the first 300 UTRGV students in the Vaquero Village.
Fans can purchase tickets at
UTRGVTickets.com. Current UTRGV students receive free general admission with their student ID but will need to claim a ticket at
GoUTRGV.com/StudentTickets. Fans can learn more about game day, including parking information, maps, and the clear bag policy by visiting
RallyTheValley.com.
Support UTRGV Men's Basketball |
Become a Fan on Facebook |
Follow us on Twitter |
Follow us on Instagram |
Follow us on YouTube
