Tonight, the UTRGV Men’s Basketball Team acquired its third victory of the season by defeating Prairie View A&M University 70-57 at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
The Panthers kicked off the game by winning possession of the ball. Junior forward Devonte Patterson opened up the scoreboard by making a layup.
PVAMU instantly took a 15-10 lead with 13:01 remaining in the first half. UTRGV made a comeback and tied the game at 17-17 with four points from junior forward Jordan Jackson and a three-pointer from graduate guard Tyson Smith.
With six minutes remaining in the half, the Panthers narrowed the Vaqueros lead to 22-21, but UTRGV extended that lead to 28-22 when senior center Terry Winn III scored four points and sophomore shooting guard Greg Bowie scored two free throws.
To end the first half of the game, the Vaqueros scored 10 points. Meanwhile, the Panthers only scored six points, giving the Vaqueros a 38-28 lead at halftime.
During the second half, UTRGV had the biggest lead of the night with 17 points ahead of PVAMU, making the score 60-43. For the remainder of the game, the Vaqueros allowed the Panthers to score only 14 points, giving UTRGV a 70-57 victory.
Head Coach Lew Hill said UTRGV was strong defensively.
“I thought defense was good in the second half,” Hill said. “We didn’t start off really good with our energy but we picked it up.
“I told the guys a win is a win. Sometimes they’re ugly and sometimes they’re pretty, but we take them all. I thought they did a good job of fighting back and spreading the lead and the guys, different guys, contributed tonight.”
Leading the Vaqueros were junior small forward Lesley Varner II with 15 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, three blocks and two steals. Bowie had 14 points, four rebounds and one assist. Winn contributed 12 points, eight rebounds and one assist.
The Vaqueros now have an overall record of 3-1 and will play at 6 p.m. Monday against East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C.
