The UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros will open the WAC tournament Tuesday night against the California Baptist Lancers in Las Vegas, NV. UT Rio Grande has been abysmal all season finishing this year 14 games below .500 after losing four of the last five regular season games. The Vaqueros were blown out 93-63 by Stephen F. Austin to end the season as the Lumberjacks shot 55.9% from the floor to score 93 points in 40 minutes.
Offensively Utah Rio Grande was no match for SFA as the Vaqueros scored only 63 points on 38 percent shooting from the floor in 23.1% from beyond the arc. Justin Johnson was the only spark in UT Rio Grande lineup with a team high 20 points on four of nine shooting in 36 minutes on the floor.
The California Baptist Lancers come into the conference tournament after finishing the year three games above .500 riding a two game win streak following a 12 point win to close the season. offensively California Baptist shot the ball well making 48.1% of their shots and 45.2% from beyond the arc to score 78 points including 41 in the first half leading to the win in the final game of the year.
Offensively this season California Baptist has been a mediocre offense averaging 71.9 points per game on 44.3% shooting as a team. Ty Rowell leads the California Baptist offense as one of four players averaging double figures scoring 11.9 points per game to go along with a team high 3.2 assist. Tre Armstrong is second on the team averaging 11.8 points and Daniel Akin adds a third best 11.7 points and a team high 8.3 rebounds.
