RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's basketball team erased a 10-point halftime deficit and rallied to earn a 63-55 victory over the East Texas A&M (ETAMU) Lions in a Southland Conference (SLC) game Saturday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
UTRGV (17-13, 13-8 SLC) had four reach double figures in scoring, led by 14 points from freshman guard
JulienGomez. Junior forward
Filip Brankovic scored 13 with nine rebounds and four assists. Junior guard
Koree Cotton had a big second half and finished with 12 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Sophomore guard
Jaylen Washington added 10 points with five rebounds and four assists. Graduate student guard
Marvin McGhee III had eight points and seven rebounds.
Noah Pagotto led the Lions (11-20, 6-15 SLC) with 18 points and eight rebounds.
Gianni Hunt and
Ronnie Harrison both scored 10 points while Harrison tabbed seven rebounds and Hunt dished out six assists.
East Texas A&M came out of the gate hot from the field, making its first six shots and not missing a field goal attempt for the first six-plus minutes of action. The Lions made a trio of early threes to open up an 11-2 lead before the Vaqueros were able to string together some offense following a three-pointer from McGhee. The Lions stayed efficient and built out an 11-point lead before a needed three from Gomez.
UTRGV found its defensive rhythm and kept the Lions scoreless for over three minutes midway through the half, trimming the deficit to five in that stretch before another deep shot from ETAMU. Graduate student guard
Zae Blake snagged a steal to set up a three from sophomore forward
Dane Christensen, but the Lions then forced a five-minute scoreless drought and grew the lead to 27-16. McGhee made his second three of the half to cut the gap to single digits, but ETAMU got to the free throw line regularly in the closing minutes of the half to lead by 13. Brankovic hit a buzzer-beating three to have the Vaqueros within 34-24 at halftime.
Gomez brought the juice to bring UTRGV within three points of the lead early in the second half. He scored six consecutive points, finishing an old-fashioned three-point play with a fast drive through traffic before hitting a three. Cotton added a three and Brankovic brought in an offensive rebound and hit putback to force a Lions timeout with the score at 41-38.
ETAMU answered UTRGV's push and extended its lead back to seven points. Graduate student forward
Kwo Agwa fired up the crowd with a dunk, making it 47-42, before the Lions defense slowed the offense down for two scoreless minutes.
The Vaqueros responded with a vengeance and tied the game at 48-48 with 9:17 on the clock after a layup from Gomez. Washington hit a pull-up jumper to start a 6-0 run, and Cotton weaved through traffic from the three-point line all the way to the hoop where he slammed home a dunk to get the bench on its feet.
UTRGV's defense kept the once red-hot Lions off the board for five minutes while going on a 9-0 run to go from trailing by two to leading, 57-51. Brankovic gave the Vaqueros their first lead of the game with a layup with 6:51 on the clock.
Brankovic got the job done on both ends of the court, locking up the paint with sound, physical defense while scoring five in a row with effort under the hoop during the rally. The Vaqueros didn't allow a field goal for the last 8:49 of action and held ETAMU to 20% shooting (6-for-29) from the field in the second half after the Lions shot 46% in the first half. The Lions were forced to foul as the lead grew late for UTRGV and the Vaqueros got the job done at the free throw line, going 8-for-10 at the stripe in the last five minutes to put the game away.
The Vaqueros will play their regular season finale at 6:30 p.m. Monday against Northwestern State in a Monday Madness game at the UTRGV Fieldhouse. Monday Madness games feature a DJ for pregame and in-game festivities, party lights throughout the night, and glowsticks, presented by Vaquero Outfitters, that will be distributed to fans. Lights will be shutoff at various times during games to allow party lights and glowsticks to illuminate the gym.
Fans can purchase single-game 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.
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