THIBODEAUX, La. – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's basketball team defeated the Nicholls Colonels 92-72 to extend their winning streak to eight-straight on Monday at Stopher Gymnasium as they also tied the program record with their 10
th conference win.
UTRGV (14-11, 10-6 SLC) ties the program record that was set in the 1994-95 season when the program won 10 games in the Sun Belt Conference.
The Vaqueros got a career-high 26 points from sophomore
Jaylen Washington while he going 10-of-12 from the floor while going a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line and added six assists. Graduate student
Marvin McGhee III scored 18 points with six rebounds. Junior
Filip Brankovic added 16 points with four rebounds and three assists and junior
Koree Cotton scored 15 points with seven rebounds.
The Colonels (10-15, 9-7 SLC) got 20 points from
Trae English while
Zee Hamoda added 16 points.
Sincere Malone scored 13 points with six rebounds and
Grant Sanders added 11 points.
The Vaqueros set the tone early getting a pair of three-pointers from Cotton and McGhee III to take the 8-4 lead. The Colonels went on a 6-0 run to take the 10-8 lead but the Vaqueros got a three-pointer from Cotton that kicked off an 8-0 run that would give them the lead for good at 16-10.
The Vaqueros used free throw line to push their lead to 24-17 and then got three-straight layups to make it 30-20 with just under seven minutes left in the half.
UTRGV made five three-pointers down the stretch as they finished with eight three-pointers in the first half taking the 55-30 lead into halftime.
The Colonels came out of the locker room and scored the first six points of the second half, but the Vaqueros regained their composure and got buckets from Brankovic, Washington and a big three-pointer from McGhee III to push their lead back to 66-45.
Nicholls tried to stay as close as they could after a three-pointer from English to get within 68-53 but the Vaqueros dominated in the paint as they got a dunk from senior
Kwo Agwa and layups from freshman
Julien Gomez, Washington, Brankovic, and McGhee III as part of a 20-8 run that gave them their biggest lead of the night at 88-62 to put the game away.
The Vaqueros finished the night with 48 points in the paint while outrebounding Nicholls 38 to 19 and shot 63% (33-52) from the floor.
The Vaqueros are back at home on Saturday when they host Stephen F. Austin at 4:30 p.m. at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
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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