Surviving and thriving

Vaqueros drop 97 vs. Le Moyne at home

The UTRGV Men’s Basketball Team (4-3) staved off a late scoring run to defeat the Le Moyne College Dolphins (2-6) tonight 97-77 in the Fieldhouse on the Edinburg campus.

The Vaqueros had five players finish the game with double-digit point totals, shooting 47.5% from the field and 32.5% from three. UTRGV did not relinquish the lead in the game.

Senior guard Howie Fleming Jr., in his first start as a Vaquero, dropped 18 points and had 3 steals on defense. He told reporters after the game that “it doesn’t matter if I’m starting or not.”

“I know going into the game we talked about creating for our teammates and making aggressive plays,” Fleming said. “I pretty much owe [my performance] to the guys with all the hard work we’ve put in.”

Graduate guard DK Thorn finished the game with 24 points, leading the Vaqueros in scoring. His second-half buckets (20 points) helped them end a Le Moyne scoring run.

“Basketball is a game of runs,” Thorn told reporters after the game. “We just had to buckle down and be together, and that’s what we did.”

UTRGV Men’s Basketball head coach Kahil Fennell said “it feels really good” to enter the Thanksgiving break with a home victory against a “dangerous opponent.”

“We really had to come out and play well tonight,” Fennell said. “It certainly wasn’t pretty. There was some stretches that was infuriating. But I am proud of the guys for responding.”

For Le Moyne, redshirt junior guard Dwayne Koroma nearly finished his night with a double-double, tallying 14 points and 8 rebounds.

The Vaqueros and Dolphins traded blows at the start of the game to open the contest on a 4-4 tie. Following this, the Vaqueros took the lead on a dunk by senior guard Hasan Abdul-Hakim.

UTRGV did not look back, going on a 14-4 run to establish control in the first half of the game. Both teams then traded blows behind the arc, putting the Vaqueros in front 21-14.

Fleming and senior guard Cliff Davis then began raining buckets on the Dolphins from behind the line, and although they began to keep pace, UTRGV finished the first half with a 41-31 lead.

The Vaqueros picked up where they left off initially, with Thorn leading them on a 13-11 run to keep pace and increase UTRGV’s lead to 54-42.

The Dolphins then went on an 11-2 run, bringing the game within 2 at 56-54. Le Moyne shot 50% from the field in the second half.

With the Vaqueros maintaining a 2-point lead, Thorn made two momentum-swinging buckets, a layup to make it 60-56 and a 3-pointer to make it 69-64 UTRGV.

Afterward, the Vaqueros finished the game by outscoring the Dolphins 28-13 to close out a 97-77 victory at home.

The team will continue its home stand at 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 5, opening Southland Conference play against the Stephen F. Austin University Lumberjacks.