LAKE CHARLES, La. – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's basketball team battled from down 12 at the half but the comeback fell short as they fell 75-68 to the McNeese Cowboys on Monday at Townsly Law Arena.
The Vaqueros (16-13, 12-8 SLC) got 15 points from junior
Filip Brankovic as he went 7-of-11 from the floor. Sophomore
Jaylen Washington scored 12 points with five assists and junior
Koree Cotton scored 10 points with eight rebounds. Graduate students
Marvin McGhee III and
Zae Blake added nine points each with McGhee III adding seven rebounds.
The Cowboys (24-5, 17-3 SLC) were led by
Larry Johnson, who scored a game-high 20 points with eight rebounds.
Tayshawn Archie scored 15 points and
Jerrel Colbert chipped in with 10 points and nine rebounds.
The Vaqueros fought through pressure all of the first half but managed to keep the game close in the early going. After the Cowboys went up 6-3 after a couple of free throws from Archie, Blake knocked down a jumper to get within a couple.
The Vaqueros got a layup from Cotton and a three-pointer from Blake as they took the 10-8 lead. After McNeese regained the lead at 13-12 after a three-pointer by Archie, freshman
Julien Gomez got the lead right back with a jumper at 14-13.
McNeese turned that pressure into runs as they went on an 11-1 run that was capped by a Richards three-pointer, which made it 24-15 with 6:22 left in the half. UTRGV answered with seven-straight points after a three from Cotton, a layup from Brankovic and a dunk from senior
Kwo Agwa but the Cowboys closed out the half with 10-straight points to take the 34-22 lead into the locker room.
UTRGV started the second half with urgency and scored the first six points to get within 34-28 after a couple of free throws and a layup from Washington. Washington scored all his 12 points in the second half.
Later, Brankovic converted on a layup and then UTRGV got a three-pointer from McGhee III that got them within 36-33 but every time the Vaqueros got close the Cowboys had an answer as Colbert got a dunk at the other end.
Washington knocked down a jumper to make it 44-41 with 12:26 left to play and the Cowboys answered with a couple of free throws and a jumper from Johnson to extend the McNeese lead to 48-41.
McGhee III knocked down a three-pointer to get UTRGV within 50-47 with 8:24 to play but the Cowboys once again answered with four free throws to extend their lead to 54-47. Then back-to-back layup by Brankovic made it 56-53 but McNeese got a pair of big-time three-pointers from DJ Richards and Archie to maintain their lead.
UTRGV had one final push after a three-pointer from Washington made it 65-60 but the Cowboys converted from the free throw line to put the game away.
The Vaqueros will be back in action on Saturday, Feb. 28, when they host the East Texas A&M Lions at 6:30 p.m. at the UTRGV Fieldhouse to start their final homestand of the regular season
Fans can purchase tickets online 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.
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