EDINBURG – Four players reached double-figures in scoring as the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros men's basketball team won its home opener, 78-56 over the Texas A&M-Kingsville Javelinas on Friday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
 
Freshman Antonio Green led the Vaqueros (1-2) with 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including 4-of-7 from behind the arc, with eight rebounds, four assists and one steal. Graduate student Dakota Slaughter scored 16 points with five assists. Senior Shaquille Hines scored 12 points with 10 rebounds, two blocks and one steal. Graduate student J.J. Thompson scored 11 points with eight assists.
 
DJ Weathers led the Javelinas with 16 pints. Jamar Goodwin finished with 12 points.
 
Slaughter drained a three on the first possession of the game, Green made back-to-back jumpers and sophomore Dan Kimasa hit an early layup as the Vaqueros went up 9-0.
 
The Javelinas scored the next six points and were within 11-8 when the Vaqueros went on a 10-0 run, capped by a Green three-pointer, to take a 21-8 lead.
 
Three baskets later, with the score 24-12, the Vaqueros used three-pointers by Green and Thompson to power a 12-0 run to make it 36-12.
 
The Vaqueros took their largest lead of the half at 40-15 on a Hines drunk with 5:20 remaining.
 
The Vaqueros extended their lead to 27 for the first time at 70-43 with 7:44 remaining in the second half when a layup by junior Christopher Ikuenobe capped an 8-0 run. The Vaqueros took their largest lead 20 seconds later when a Slaughter layup made it 72-44.
 
The Vaqueros continue the home stand on Sunday at 2 p.m. when they host Portland State at the UTRGV Fieldhouse in a game that will be televised lived throughout the state of Texas on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel (323). Doors open at 1.

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