Beon Riley scored 16 of his career-high 22 points in the second half to spur on a furious Trailblazer rally as Utah Tech posted a hard-fought 79-74 road victory at UTRGV on Thursday night at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
 
The win snapped the Trailblazers' five-game losing streak and kept their WAC postseason hopes alive as Utah Tech (11-19/7-12 WAC) moved to within one game of eighth-place California Baptist (8-11 WAC) in the race for the eighth and final berth into next week's conference tournament. 
 
A Trailblazer win did not look like it was in the cards in the early going after the Vaqueros rattled off 15-straight points as part of an 18-2 run, which turned an early 7-3 Utah Tech lead into a 21-9 UTRGV advantage after a Sherman Brashear 3-pointer with 11:34 to play in the first half.
 
Utah Tech went more than four minutes without a field goal and had turned the ball over nine times over those first eight-plus minutes of the period.
 
UTRGV (6-24/2-17 WAC) would see its lead swell to as many as 14 points before the Vaqueros retreated to the locker room with a 45-35 halftime advantage.
 
Utah Tech managed to cut that deficit in half in the early minutes of the second stanza after a Noa Gonsalves drive to the bucket made it a 49-44 game with just over 16 minutes remaining.
 
However UTRGV quickly countered with seven-straight points to go back up 12 at 56-44 advantage following a Elijah Elliott basket.
 
Trailing 62-51 with 11 minutes to play, Utah Tech began to methodically chip away at the Vaquero lead, eventually pulling to within two points at 64-62 after a Riley lay-in with 6:12 on the clock.
 
Then after the Vaqueros split a pair of free throws on their ensuing possession, Riley came back with a floater in the lane, which was followed by a Gonsalves jumper that gave the Blazers the lead back at 67-65 with 4:38 to go.
 
Riley would make a two possession game one minute later with a steal and breakaway lay-in. 
 
UTRGV came back with two free throws, but the Trailblazers countered with a Tanner Christensen leaner in the lane and a Riley 3-pointer to extend to their biggest lead of the night at 74-67 with 56 seconds left.
 
The Vaqueros made one final charge, trimming the Utah Tech lead to 75-74 with 20 seconds remaining, but Riley and Christensen combined to go 4-of-4 at the line in the waning seconds to salt away the comeback win. 
 
Riley went 8-of-14 from the floor, including a 6-of-9 clip after halftime, on his way to his 22-point night, which bested his previous career-high of 21 set in a road win at CBU in December. 
 
Meanwhile Christensen finished one rebound shy of his seventh double-double of the year as he finished with 19 points and nine rebounds. Christensen hit on 8-of-11 from the floor, including a perfect 4-of-4 in the second half, during which he complemented Riley with 10 points of his own. 
 
Gonsalves chipped in 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting with three 3-pointers and Tennessee Rainwater tallied 11 points and a career-best nine rebounds. 
 
Utah Tech shot 51.8 percent for the game (29-of-56), which included a 6-of-17 clip (.353) from beyond the arc. The Trailblazers also went 15-of-22 (.682) from the foul line and outrebounded UTRGV 36-30.
 
In addition, the Trailblazers racked up a season-high 22 assists on their 29 made field goals, including a career-high 10 dimes from Unisa Turay.  Utah Tech also committed only three turnovers in the second half, this after the Blazers had 13 first half miscues. 
 
Elliott led all scorers with 26 points on 10-of-25 shooting, while Breasher tallied 24 points with six 3-pointers. UTRGV shot 45.8 percent (27-of-59) for the game, which included a 7-of-19 (.368) effort from the perimeter, and went 13-of-17 (.765) at the line.  
 
Utah Tech will close the 2023-24 regular season with another must-win road game at Stephen F. Austin on Saturday afternoon. A Trailblazer win, coupled with a CBU home loss to WAC-leading Grand Canyon, will clinch Utah Tech the final conference tournament berth.