Ahren Freeman (UTRGV #11) with the game winning layup, and defender Jesiah West from Western Illinois.
On Nov. 21, the UTRGV Vaqueros fought until the last second against Western Illinois 78-77, stepping ahead with the game-winning layup from junior forward Ahren Freeman, in the Bert Ogden Arena.
The Vaqueros men’s basketball team have been undefeated in home turf with a record of 2-0. The Vaqueros, with guard star player Justin Johnson, played a tough and physical game that came down to the wire.
Johnson said he knew what he had to do to help his team get the hard fought win over Western Illinois.
“Well as a leader I just know I had to come out hot and get the guys going and show them we are gonna bring the fight tonight, so that was my mindset going into the game. I just wanted to come out hard and get a big win and that we did,” Johnson said.
Johnson put up 34 points, three assists, two rebounds, and two steals.
Game impacting players also include sophomore guard Will Johnston, who in the 35 minutes played, put up 10 points, 11 assists, two rebounds. Graduate student forward Diam Zdor put up 18 points, four rebounds, and one assists in the 35 minutes he played.
Head Coach Matt Figger was proud of his team’s performance but also wants to gain knowledge from this big win.
“Thought we had a great effort from our senior Justin Johnson. Ahren Freemans played at the end, but he also had 10 pretty big defensive rebounds. Will Johnston was good, except for one play, he had 11 assists. We just have to learn from a win and we have to become better, but there are some good teaching moments in this game and hopefully we can mature and build off of it,” Figger said.
UTRGV dominated in the paint, scoring 44 points out of their 78 total score.
The team came up big against Western Illinois, with Freeman hitting the game winning shot, contributing six points total, one assists, 10 rebounds, and one block.
Freeman said the excitement is overwhelming and he made the best move possible for the team.
“First of all, my heart is still racing from that but during the timeout coach drew up a really nice play for us to run, I saw they were over helping with the person [Will Johnston]I was supposed to pass it to, so just decided to make a play and it worked out,” Freeman said.
The UTRGV Men’s Basketball Team will hit the road to take on University of Texas Saturday, Nov. 26 at 3 p.m.
The Vaqueros will return home to battle Texas A&M Corpus Christi on Wednesday Nov. 30, at 6:30 p.m.
For more information on the men’s basketball team, visit goutrgv.com.
