RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's basketball team earned a solid 68-63 win Saturday, outdueling the reigning SWAC Champion Prairie View A&M (PVAMU) Panthers in a non-conference contest at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
Redshirt junior
Jace Posey scored a career-high 22 points with nine rebounds and four assists to lead UTRGV (2-0, 0-0 Southland Conference). Senior
Devon Pryor added a career-high 13 points with six rebounds while senior
B.B. Knight tabbed 14 points.
Prairie View A&M (2-1, 0-0 SWAC) was led by 26 points from
Davis Bynum and 14 from
Anthony Gause.
The game was physical and tightly contested from the opening whistle. The teams swapped buckets early, then Posey gave UTRGV an 11-10 lead with a fastbreak, up-and-under drive to the hoop with the left-hand finish. The Vaqueros started to push the pace and showed their athleticism, including with a clutch clean-up play by Pryor who flew in to snag a miss and turn the offensive board into points.
Prairie View A&M went on a 9-0 run run to take a 21-13 lead as it kept UTRGV scoreless for three minutes. The Vaqueros withstood the rush and got back within one possession behind the spark from Pryor and Knight. Pryor slammed down an alley-oop dunk off a feed from Posey to trim the deficit to 23-19. Knight responded to a small 4-0 run for the Panthers with a three, then took a hard foul to get the Vaqueros bench animated. Knight made one of two technical free throws, and the tech kept the ball with the home team.
The connection between ormer Tyler Junior College teammates junior
Chris Uwayo and junior
Caden Bell flipped momentum back in UTRGV's favor. Following a well-defended inbound play by the Panthers, Uwayo got on the floor to notch an offensive rebound and found Bell all alone under the hoop for the score. Uwayo then swiped a steal on PVAMU's inbound and again connected with Bell, who hit a layup to put UTRGV on top, 29-27.
The Vaqueros defense came alive late in the half, using active hands on the full-court press and suffocating on-ball defending to keep the Panthers contained. But they were a bit sloppy offensively down the stretch and couldn't take full advantage of the stops. UTRGV took a 30-29 lead into the locker room at half.
Posey got the Vaqueros going with his extra effort to start the second half. He made a strong layup to extend the lead to 34-31, then notched a pair of toughness plays as he sacrificed his body trying to maintain or gain possession of loose balls before tabbing a steal. Pryor and Posey combined to score 14 of UTRGV's first 18 points in the second half, lifting the Vaqueros to a 48-40 lead. The Power 4 transfer duo used their length and aggressive play to create opportunities at the basket, making five layups, while drawing contact and finishing at the free throw line.
Prairie View A&M rallied midway through the half and closed the gap to 52-47 as Bynum continued to impact the game. UTRGV's defense played tough, but the Panthers got some foul calls and cashed in at the line to cut the lead to three eight minutes on the clock. Posey drove to the hoop and switched hands under the basket to finish an and-1 layup for a three-point play.
Sophomore
Bobby Crawford came up with some big plays down the stretch to help UTRGV maintain a seven-point lead. He soared in for offensive rebounds and layups and made some key stops when UTRGV needed. Knight nailed a three to extend the lead to 66-56 with just over three minutes to play, giving the Vaqueros the cushion they needed to hold on for the victory.
The Vaqueros will host the Pac 12's Texas State at the UTRGV Fieldhouse on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in another non-conference contest.
Fans can purchase tickets at
UTRGVTickets.com. All tickets for UTRGV Athletics home events will use NFC scanning, therefore screenshots will not grant entry. Fans can save and access tickets for entry via Apple or Google Wallet or by logging into your account at
UTRGVTickets.com.
Fans are encouraged to visit
RallyTheValley.com for everything they need to know about attending home basketball games. If you're unable to attend, the game will be streamed on
ESPN+ domestically and
Southland International for international fans.
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