Texas Border Business
RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men’s basketball team clinched the No. 2 seed in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Tournament, the highest seed in program history, by closing out the regular season with a 79-76 overtime victory over the California Baptist University Lancers on Saturday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse in front of a raucous crowd of 1,523.
After going 8-2 in its final 10 games, UTRGV (14-16, 9-7 WAC) rolls into a WAC Tournament Quarterfinals matchup with seventh-seeded CSU Bakersfield on Thursday at 8 p.m. at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas on ESPN+. The winner will face either No. 3 Seattle U or No. 6 Utah Valley in the semifinals on Friday at 10:30 on ESPN+. The championship game is set for Saturday at 9 p.m. on ESPNU.
Graduate student Jordan Jackson led the Vaqueros with 24 points, three assists and two blocks. Senior Lesley Varner II scored 22 points with a career-high seven steals, tied for the 10th-highest single-game total in program history. Junior Javon Levi scored eight points with a career-high-tying 13 assists, a season-high-tying five steals, and five rebounds. Senior Isaiah Fontaine finished with five points with four rebounds.
Milan Acquaah led the Lancers (21-10, 10-6 WAC) with 18 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists. Dejon Davis scored 15 points with 11 rebounds. Ferron Flavors Jr. finished with 15 points.
The Vaqueros trailed 52-46 with 8:34 remaining in the second half. Junior Rob McClain Jr. responded with a layup and Varner came up with a dunk to spark an 8-2 run to tie the game at 54.
Flavors and Kuol answered with threes to put the Lancers up 60-56. Then, with the score 62-58, Jackson made a layup and Varner hit two free throws to tie the game.
The Vaqueros trailed 67-64 in the final minute before Levi hit a game-tying three with 21 seconds left to force overtime.
The Lancers jumped out to a 74-70 lead with 1:51 left in the extra session, but four Varner free throws sandwiched a Jackson layup to give the Vaqueros the lead.
A Davis layup tied the game with seven seconds left before Varner came down the court and hit a game-winning three.
Jackson opened the game with a jumper and a dunk and then-freshman Quinton Johnson II nailed a three as the Vaqueros jumped out to a 7-2 lead. The Lancers responded with a 16-6 run to go up 18-13.
The Lancers extended their lead to 28-22 late in the half, but a jumper and a free throw by Fontaine and a three at the buzzer by Johnson allowed the Vaqueros to go into halftime down just 30-28.
The Vaqueros scored the first four points of the second half to take the lead before an Acquaah three sparked a 14-6 run to put the Lancers up 44-38.
 Vaqueros men's basketball team clinched the No. 2 seed in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Tournament, the highest seed in program history, by closing out the regular season with a 79-76 overtime victory over the California Baptist University Lancers on Saturday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse in front of a raucous crowd of 1,523.){kind=link}