The UTRGV Men’s Basketball Team swept Texas A&M University Corpus Christi 68-59 in tonight’s South Texas Showdown at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
Graduate guard Tyson Smith got the Vaqueros off to a quick start as he opened up the scoreboard with a three-pointer, giving UTRGV a 3-0 lead.
TAMUCC quickly snatched the lead from the Vaqueros as senior guard Emmanuel Toney, sophomore guard Myles Smith and junior forward Elijah Schmidt scored six points, placing the Islanders ahead 6-5.
A layup from senior forward Terry Winn III, one three-pointer from junior guard Jordan Jackson, two three-pointers from sophomore guard Greg Bowie and a layup from graduate forward Solomon Hainna returned the lead to the Vaqueros, 18-8.
The Islanders responded by scoring 12 points and shutting down UTRGV to score only two points, tying the game 20-20 with 7:07 remaining in the first half.
UTRGV made a comeback by scoring 15 points as TAMUCC scored only 13 points, which gave the Vaqueros a 35-33 lead at the half.
During the second half, the Vaqueros maintained control of the game until the Islanders came back and tied the game once again at 50-50.
UTRGV broke the tie as Hainna scored a layup, Winn scored a layup and two free throws, and junior forward Lesley Varner II scored a layup for a score of 58-50 in favor of UTRGV.
The Vaqueros maintained their lead for the remainder of the game and sealed the deal with a score of 68-59.
Leading the Vaqueros were Hainna with 14 points, four rebounds, two assists and one block. Bowie had 10 points and two rebounds. Winn contributed eight points, seven rebounds and four assists. Jackson tallied eight points.
Head Coach Lew Hill said he was excited about the team’s effort and energy.
“I thought our guys came out ready to play today,” Hill said. “The last three games we started slow, but tonight we had a good start to the game. I challenged the guys to do that. They stepped up to the challenge, came out and played well.”
On Nov. 12, the Vaqueros defeated the Islanders 76-69 in their first matchup of the season.
UTRGV will continue the action at 7 p.m. Wednesday against the University of Houston Cougars in Houston.
UTRGV graduate forward Solomon Hainna scores two points in a layup during tonight’s basketball game against Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi in the UTRGV Fieldhouse. The Vaqueros took a 68-59 victory over the Islanders.
