Utah Tech Finishes WAC’tastic’ Comeback Over Texas Rio Grande Valley
Mar 7, 2024, 7:43 PM | Updated: 7:45 pm
(Photo courtesy of Utah Tech Athletics)
(Photo courtesy of Utah Tech Athletics)
ST. GEORGE, Utah – The Utah Tech Trailblazers kept their WAC postseason hopes alive with a thrilling 79-74 comeback road win over UTGRV.
Utah Tech (11-19, 7-12) faced the University of Texas Rio Grand Valley Vaqueros (6-24, 2-17) on Thursday, March 7.
Finished strong 💪#UtahTechBlazers | #UniteTheFamily x #IntoTheStorm pic.twitter.com/jMSxDuB88P
— Utah Tech Men's Basketball (@UtahTechMBB) March 8, 2024
Beon Riley led the Trailblazers with 22 points, eight rebounds, three steals, and some late free throws to seal the comeback. Tanner Christensen added 19 points, Noa Gonsalves scored 15, while Tennessee Rainwater finished with 11 points and nine boards.
Elijah Elliott led all scorers with 26 points on 25 shot attempts.
First Half
UTT jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the opening minutes but couldn’t hang on to the advantage. The Vaqueros flipped the script and went on a 15-0 run over the next four minutes to grab a commanding 18-7 lead.
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Utah Tech struggled to make any headway for the rest of the half, trailing by double figures for most of the opening period. Tanner Christensen led the Trailblazers with nine points, but the turnover bug prevented the team from finding a rhythm. UTT committed 13 TOs in the half, five of which came from Christensen.
Halftime #UtahTechBlazers | #UniteTheFamily x #IntoTheStorm pic.twitter.com/186KCduVqe
— Utah Tech Men's Basketball (@UtahTechMBB) March 8, 2024
Utah Tech shot a respectable 48.1 percent from the field while allowing the Vaqueros to hit 60 percent (18-30) and 44.4 percent (4-9) from deep.
UTGRV led 45-35 at the break.
Second Half
The Trailblazer’s turnover woes continued in the second half as UTRGV expanded the lead to 12.
Trailing 61-49, UTT went on an 11-4 run to trail 64-60 with 8:30 left. The run continued out of a timeout, with the Noa Gonsalves hitting a three with 4:38 left to give his team a 67-65 lead. It was their first lead since 7-5 with 15:17 left in the first half.
Utah Tech made eight of ten shots and committed one turnover during the run.
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Minutes later, Beon Riley’s second three extended the lead to 74-67 with 56 seconds to play. UTGRV only needed 37 seconds to reel off a 7-1 run. Leading by one with 19 seconds left, Riley went to the free throw line and hit two clutch free throws to give his team a 77-74 lead with nine seconds left.
The Trailblazers held on for the 79-74 win.
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The Trailblazers close the regular season on Saturday, March 9, when they take on the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. MT. Utah Tech is 2-2 all-time against the Lumberjacks after winning 75-70 at home earlier this season.
KSL Sports coverage of Utah Tech can be found here.
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Brian Preece is a KSLsports.com insider covering the Utah State Aggies, Locals in MLB, and Salt Lake Bees. Follow Brian’s Bees, Beehive baseball, and Aggie athletics coverage here.
