COMMERCE – Behind double-digit scoring from all five starters, the East Texas A&M University men's basketball team snapped its losing streak with a 77-69 win on Saturday evening over the UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros at the Hunt Regional Healthcare Court in the Field House.
 
Saturday was the first ever win for the Lions over the Vaqueros, who had won the previous two matchups. The Lions snapped a five-game losing streak and are now 7-10 on the season as well as 2-5 against Southland Conference opponents. UTRGV is also 2-5 in SLC play and 6-10 overall.  
 
Despite the first four points of the game coming from UTRGV, the Lions served back a 7-2 run to take their first lead of the game. Trailing 11-9 at the 14:22 mark, the Lions went on a 10-0 run to grab a 19-11 lead at the 11:54 mark and did not trail again.
 
The Lions knocked down seven three-pointers in the first half and shot 17 for 32 from the field to lead 42-33 at the break. Ronnie Harrison (Forney) had 11 points on 5 for 7 shooting as did Gianni Hunt (Lakewood, Calif.), who shot 3 for 6 from outside the three-point arc.
 
Despite trailing by as much as 22 in the second half, the Vaqueros cut the deficit down to six as part of a 12-2 run, with the Lions shooting 1 for 7 from the field during the stretch and being held scoreless for over four minutes.
 
A free throw from Damian Garcia (Houston – Dobie) followed by a three-pointer from Harrison sparked a quick 4-0 run and put the Lions back up by 10 with less than two minutes to play.
 
After the stretch to cut the deficit down to six, the Vaqueros went on a scoring drought of over three minutes with the scoring margin not falling below six at any point of the second half.
 
Harrison led all Lion scorers with 18 points and seven rebounds, while Hunt recorded his first double-double as a Lion with 13 points and 10 assists. Garcia added 12 points and then Noah Pagotto (Wollongong, Australia) also had a double-double, racking up 12 points and 10 rebounds.
 
Tay Mosher (The Colony) rounded out the Lion starters with 10 points and two assists. The Lions shot 50 percent in the game, including 11 for 28 from deep.
 
All five starters for the Vaqueros also reached double digits with Filip Brankovic leading the way, tallying 16 points and seven rebounds.
 

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The home stand continues for the Lions on Monday against A&M-Corpus Christi at 6:30 p.m. It is the Spring Semester Tip-off with the first 800 students in attendance receiving a free t-shirt and free food.