Nathaniel Puente 
It’s December; it’s the final month of the year, nay, the decade! As we look back on the past 10 years let’s reminisce about some of the biggest wins in basketball’s history. You might reference this year’s triumph over CSU Bakersfield in the first round of the WAC tournament, the first time UTRGV pushed passed the first round. Or, how about UTPA’s 101-94 win over Victory University in 2010. It’s not that special but the Broncs only won 6 games that year so every win felt big. Plus, it’s pretty ironic beating a team named Victory University. Well, if neither of those games do it for you. Let’s go for last week’s game against Sam Houston State.
UTRGV came into this one with a paltry 2-5 record. A tough matchup against last year’s Southland Conference champs Sam Houston State seemed like a big loss waiting to happen, especially when the Bearkats took a 10 point lead into halftime thanks to Zach Nutall and his string of threes throughout the half. But, there are two halves for a reason. UTRGV striked back with Lesley Varner Jr., Jordon Jackson, and Uche Dibiamaka. A group of three. Making threes. Together they went on a 16-4 run in the Second Half to give the Vaqueros their first lead late in the game. Sam Houston led late but this amazingly clutch [dunk] [play] from Anthony Bratton sent the game into OT. Five minutes passed and neither team could find a clear advantage. So guess what, a 2nd Overtime! This time, UTRGV took the lead off a couple layups before some Free throws from Varner and Jackson sealed the deal.
It’s UTRGV’s first win over Sam Houston State in over 15 years. Now, that might have been UTRGV’s biggest win emotion-wise but why not follow it up with a huge win based solely on point-differential. The Vaqueros hosted Mid-American Christian and exploded with points. The team led 48-25 by halftime. Freshman Quinton Johnson led the team with 20 points on the night as UTRGV ran away with this one 90-50.
The team now holds a 4-5 record and looks to keep things going in the right direction. One team that already has things going well; Women’s basketball. They’re on a three game winning streak right now that’s highlighted by a match against UTSA.
The Vaqueros opened the scoring early with a 14-3 lead which became 32-29 by the end of the 2nd period. The Roadrunners grabbed the lead in the 3rd Period but Jordan Augustus added 4 straight scores to push UTRGV out in front once more. Augustus eventually led the game with 27 points as the Vaqueros won 75-64.
Their next challenge came against Texas A&M International. The Division II school was no match for UTRGV as they easily won this one. Graduate student Desirea Buerge led the team with a career-high 17 points.
Now, the time has come for me to bid my final farewell on UTRGV-TV. As of today I’ve been in school for 1,561 days. That’s just over 4 years and three months. I’m really excited for it to end. During my time at UTRGV, I’ve had the incredible opportunity to work for UTRGV-TV and UTRGV Radio. The skills I’ve developed here are amazing. Also, the friendships I’ve made here are irreplaceable. There are too many people I have met here to name so I’m just going to do a quick shoutout to everyone… jk.
Click on the video below to watch the segment.
