Lancers Winning Streak Snapped by UTRGV

Saturday, January 5

Riverside, Calif.

7:00 PM

California Baptist University

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

UTRGV

California Baptist

Lancers Winning Streak Snapped by UTRGV

1/5/2019 9:37:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score PDF Box Score

By: Mike Minyard, Assoc. AD for External Relations

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – The University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley (9-8; 1-0 WAC) rallied in the second half to put an end to a California Baptist (9-6; 1-1 WAC) five-game winning streak with an 81-74 victory at the CBU Events Center on Saturday night.

UTRGV quickly jumped out to a 7-0 advantage to start the game and built a 13-8 lead in the first four minutes on 6-of-7 shooting from the field. After the media timeout, CBU appeared to have found its rhythm against the high pressure UTRGV defense that entered the game ranked second in the nation in steals. CBU went on a 15-2 run to take an 18-15 lead with 10:05 remaining in the first half.

Marquise with the 3️⃣ to give your Lancers the lead after battling back from an early 7-0 run by UTRGV. #LanceUp pic.twitter.com/8ecVIhX18x
— CBU Men's Basketball (@CBUmbb) January 6, 2019

The Lancers went on to out-pace the Vaqueros 42-18 over an 18-minute period starting at the 15:40 mark of the first half and through the first three minutes of the second half. CBU led by as many as 16 points in the first half and took a 40-28 lead to the locker room at halftime.

💃💃💃 Mosley with the acrobatics before half!!!

Your Lancers lead UTRGV 40-28 at the break. #LanceUp pic.twitter.com/oufHTp6PGJ
— CBU Men's Basketball (@CBUmbb) January 6, 2019

Momentum started to change sides in the second half after CBU senior Jordan Heading converted an old-fashion, three-point play to put the Lancers up once again by 16 points with 17:21 left in the game. A combination of solid defense, enhanced shooting and foul trouble was the recipe for an 11-2 UTRGV run over the next 4:42 that would cut the CBU lead to 49-43 with 12:28 left on the clock. The Lancers looked to have withstood the run by the Vaqueros when senior Milan Acquaah went coast-to-coast for a layup to put CBU up 67-59 with under five minutes remaining in the contest.

Milan takes it all the way!!! #LanceUp pic.twitter.com/DHrHNgvyuC
— CBU Men's Basketball (@CBUmbb) January 6, 2019

UTRGV went on a 10-0 run over the next 2:29 that gave the Vaqueros the lead at 69-67, their first since early on in the first half. CBU sophomore Ty Rowell hit a clutch three that put the Lancers back ahead at 70-69 with 2:16 left in the game.

Rowell. Clutch.#LanceUp pic.twitter.com/V8lOO38qfr
— CBU Men's Basketball (@CBUmbb) January 6, 2019

The Vaqueros would strike back immediately with a three pointer by Tyson Smith that gave UTRGV the lead for good at 72-70 with under two minutes remaining. UTRGV outscored CBU 12-4 in the final two minutes of the contest to slide out of Riverside with the 81-74 victory.

Acquaah battled through foul trouble the majority of the game and finished the game with 20 points, four rebounds and an assist in 30 minutes for the Lancers. He has scored 20 or more points in 12-of-15 games played this season. Heading finished with nine points, six rebounds and five assists. Junior De'jon Davis nearly missed a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds. Junior Marquise Mosley also added nine points.

UTRGV was led by Smith with a game-high 21 points. Terry Winn finished with 20 points, five rebounds and two assists while Javon Levi scored 10 points and Greg Bowie contributed 10 off the bench.

The Lancers will hit the road for a pair of league games next week at Kansas City on Thursday and at Chicago State on Saturday. CBU has found success away from home this season with four true road wins. Only 27 NCAA Division I schools in the country have four or more road victories as of Jan. 4.