RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men’s basketball team beat the University of the Incarnate Word Cardinals 77-74 to close out non-conference play on Saturday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
Junior Elijah Elliott led the Vaqueros (4-9) with 21 points, three assists and four steals. Junior Hasan Abdul-Hakim scored 17 points with five rebounds and four assists. Freshman J.J. Howard scored 13 points with three assists and two blocks. Sophomore Saliou Seye scored a career-high 11 points with a career-high nine rebounds. Senior Ahren Freeman scored nine points with four rebounds.
Senior Daylen Williams scored six points with a season-high 14 rebounds, three assists, two steals and a career-high tying two blocks.
Shon Robinson led the Cardinals (4-8) with 21 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. Sky Wicks scored 13 points with 10 rebounds and four assists. Alex Anderson scored 13 points with six assists and two steals.
Williams and Seye hit early baskets to give the Vaqueros a 4-3 lead. The Cardinals responded with a 19-6 run to go up 22-10. During that run, the Cardinals hit all eight of their shot attempts while making nine in a row dating back to their first basket of the game. Three of those shots were 3-pointers and one resulted in a 3-point play.
The Vaqueros scored the next five points to make the score 22-15. Seye made a layup to keep the Vaqueros within seven at 24-17 before the Cardinals went on an 8-2 run to take their largest lead of the half at 32-19.
The Cardinals were still up 13 at 34-21 when a Freeman layup sparked a 13-2 run to bring the Vaqueros within 36-34 late in the half.
The Cardinals led by four to start the second half, but Abdul-Hakim opened the frame with a 3 and then Elliott made a layup off a steal to restore the Vaqueros’ lead.
The Cardinals scored six of the next nine points to go up 47-45 before a Seye layup sparked a 12-0 run to put the Vaqueros up 57-47.
The Vaqueros still led by 10 at 67-57 when the Cardinals hit three-straight shots, including a 3-point play and a 3-pointer, to pull within two.
The Vaqueros pushed their lead back out to 70-66 before the Cardinals went on an 8-1 run to go up 73-71 with 1:46 remaining.
Thirty seconds later, Howard hit a pair of free throws to tie the game. Elliott made a shot clock buzzer-beating jumper with 32 seconds left to give the Vaqueros the lead for good.
UTRGV hosts resumes Western Athletic Conference play on Thursday at 12 p.m. against Stephen F. Austin at the UTRGV Fieldhouse. This game is both faculty & staff and Winter Texan appreciation day. Current UTRGV faculty and staff receive free admission with an employee ID. Winter Texans will be able to purchase tickets for a discounted price of $6. The game also features the Cane’s Challenge. If the Vaqueros win, all fans in the fieldhouse will receive coupons for buy one, get one free box combos at Raising Cane’s on their way out.
Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at GoUTRGV.com/Tickets. Current UTRGV students receive free general admission with their student ID. All fans need to follow the clear bag policy, details of which can be found at GoUTRGV.com/ClearBag. The party starts in Schlotzsky’s Vaquero Village at 10:30 a.m.
Fans unable to attend in person can watch domestically on ESPN+ or internationally via WAC International.
