\n
\n
<\/p>\n
CORPUS CHRISTI\u00a0\u2013 The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV)\u00a0Vaqueros men’s basketball team picked up their fourth straight win by defeating the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders 64-55 on Monday at Hilliard Center.\u00a0 Support UTRGV Men’s Basketball<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Become a Fan on Facebook<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Follow us on Twitter<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Follow us on Instagram<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Follow us on YouTube<\/a><\/p>\n Read Full Article
\n\u00a0
\nThe Vaqueros (10-11, 6-6 SLC) got a career-high 19 points from freshman\u00a0Julien Gomez<\/a>\u00a0while adding seven rebounds. Sophomore\u00a0Jaylen Washington<\/a>\u00a0scored 13 points, while going 7-of-8 from the free throw line. Junior\u00a0Koree Cotton<\/a>\u00a0added 11 points with five rebounds and two blocks.\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\nThe Islanders (11-10, 7-5 SLC) got 12 points from\u00a0Nicholas Shobgonyo\u00a0while\u00a0Mason Gibson\u00a0and\u00a0Sheldon Williams\u00a0each added 10 points.\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\nThe Vaqueros got three points in the Showdown standings with the win while the Islanders earned the attendance points. UTRGV now leads the Showdown 16-12 with the next Showdown event coming on Feb. 17-18 at a women’s golf tournament in Corpus Christi.\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\nBoth teams got off to a slow start, but the Vaqueros grabbed the 7-4 lead after back-to-back layup from McGhee III and Gomez. The Islanders rattled off a 7-0 that was capped by a Shogbonyo three-pointer to grab the 11-7 lead but back-to-back jumpers from junior\u00a0Always Wright<\/a>\u00a0and Gomez tied the game at 11-11 with 8:20 left in the half.\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\nThe Islanders regained the 15-11 lead after a pair of free throws and a Wheatfall layup but redshirt junior\u00a0Marshal Destremau<\/a>\u00a0and Gomez gave got the lead right back for UTRGV with back-to-back three-pointers.\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\nThe Vaqueros took advantage of the free throw line down the stretch making five free throws to take the 24-20 lead into halftime.\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\nUTRGV opened up their lead with an 8-2 run as they took advantage of space in the paint with three-straight layups from Gomez, Cotton, and Washington to make it 32-22. After a couple of free throws from Washington that made it 36-26, the Islanders went on a 10-0 behind eight-straight free throws, as they finished the game with 41 attempts compared to the Vaqueros’ 25 attempts.\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\nThe Vaqueros regained control of the game behind three-pointers from Cotton, McGhee III, and two from Gomez that made it 49-40 with 8:40 left to play. Later, Cotton converted a huge three-pointer play and then Washington followed with a tough layup to make it 58-49.\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\nThe Islanders did their best to claw back into the game, but the Vaqueros converted from the free throw line to put the game away.\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\nThe Vaqueros will be back in action on Jan. 31 when they visit the University of the Incarnate Word Cardinals at 4 p.m. at the McDermott Center.<\/p>\n
\n