Texas Border Business
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Senior Lesley Varner II scored became the 26th player in program history to score 1,000 points in his career as The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men’s basketball team completed the season sweep of the Kansas City Roos with a 73-60 victory on Thursday at the Swinney Center.
Varner scored 23 points to increase his career total to 1,007, just shy of Steve Heard (1957-61), who ranks 25th in program history with 1,019 points.
Graduate student Jordan Jackson also reached double-figures for the Vaqueros (8-14, 4-5 WAC), scoring 16 points. Junior Chris Freeman finished with nine points.
Rob Whitfield led the Roos (12-12, 4-5 WAC) with 13 points. Javan White scored 10 points with seven rebounds and three blocks. Josiah Allick also finished with 10 points.
The Roos led 5-3 out of the gate, but Varner hit three baskets and two free throws as part of a 12-0 run to give the Vaqueros a 14-5 lead midway through the first half.
The Vaqueros led by as much as 12 in the first half, going up 25-13 on a Varner jumper.
The Vaqueros pushed their lead to 13 early in the second half on a dunk by sophomore Sean Rhea that made the score 37-24. That was part of a 10-2 run that put the Vaqueros up 43-26.
The Roos pulled within 48-32 with 14:19 remaining. The Vaqueros held the Roos scoreless for the next 5:44 while scoring seven points to extend their lead to 55-32.
The Roos scored nine of the next 10 points and climbed to within 64-48, but the Vaqueros responded by scoring six of the next nine points, capped by a Jackson dunk, to push the game out of reach.
UTRGV visits Chicago State on Saturday at 12 p.m.
 Vaqueros men's basketball team completed the season sweep of the Kansas City Roos with a 73-60 victory on Thursday at the Swinney Center.){kind=link}