Texas Border Business
RIO GRANDE VALLEY, Texas – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men’s basketball team beat the Paul Quinn College Tigers 85-68 on Tuesday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
Junior Justin Johnson led the Vaqueros (2-1) with a career-high 18 points and seven rebounds. Junior Ricky “Doc” Nelson scored 16 points with four assists. Graduate student Marek Nelson scored 15 points with six rebounds and one block. Graduate student Mike Adewunmi scored 13 points with nine rebounds and two blocks. Junior LaQuan Butler posted his first-career double-double with 10 points and a career-high 10 assists.
Chris Scaife led the Tigers (3-2) with 15 points. Ja’Mere Redus scored 10 points with three steals.
The game was tight for the first six minutes, with the Tigers taking a 9-8 lead. An alley-oop to freshman Donte Houston Jr. sparked a 10-0 run to put the Vaqueros up 18-9.
The Tigers scored six of the next eight points before Adewunmi connected on a layup and a free throw to kick off a 19-4 run to put the Vaqueros up 39-19.
The Vaqueros and Tigers traded baskets for the first few minutes of the second half before a layup by freshman RayQuan Taylor sparked a 7-0 run to put the Vaqueros up 61-33, marking their largest lead of the game.
UTRGV hosts Northern Arizona for the inaugural UTRGV South Padre Island Battle on the Beach on Saturday at 1 p.m. at the South Padre Island Convention Centre. Texas Tech faces Incarnate Word at 4 p.m. Less than 40 tickets remain available. They can be purchased at UTRGVTickets.com. Those unable to attend the game in person can watch both games in the United States on ESPN+ and the UTRGV game internationally on the WAC Digital Network.
