CORPUS CHRISTI – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) men's basketball team fell to Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (TAMUCC) 84-68 in the South Texas Showdown, presented by Navy Army Community Credit Union, on Tuesday at the American Bank Center.
 
UTRGV (2-6) now trails TAMUCC (5-0) 15-11 in the showdown standings.
 
Junior Nick Dixon led UTRGV with his first-career double-double, scoring 26 points on 11-of-17 shooting with a career-high 10 rebounds and a career-high six assists. Sophomores Antonio Green and Lew Stallworth each scored 10 points.
 
Ehab Amin lead TAMUCC with a game-high 30 points on 11-of-16 shooting, including 2-of-5 from behind the arc, plus 6-of-7 from the line, with six rebounds and four steals. Joseph Kilgore scored 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Cole Martinez finished with 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including 2-of-5 from behind the arc. Rashawn Thomas scored 10 points with six rebounds, five assists, five block and five steals.
 
TAMUCC hit seven of its first 12 shots to jump out to a 15-6 lead over the first nine minutes.
 
TAMUCC pushed its lead into double-figures for the first time on an Amin layup that made it 21-11 with 6:18 remaining in the first half. TAMUCC led by as much as 14 at 29-15 on a Kilgore layup less than three minutes later.
 
TAMUCC still led by 14 at 31-17 after an Amin layup, but Green hit back-to-back layups and then capped what turned out to be a 21-9 run with consecutive three-pointers to bring UTRGV with 40-38 early in the second half.
 
Kilgore followed with a three-point play, however, to spark a 22-6 run as TAMUCC pushed its lead to a game-high 18 at 66-42 with 9:17 remaining.
 
A three-point play and another layup by Dixon helped UTRGV score seven-straight to pull wiithin 11.
 
UTRGV got as close as seven at 73-66 on a Dixon three with 3:02 to go, but an Amin three-point play, three free throws by Jake Kocher, and a Thomas free throw pushed the game out of reach.
 
UTRGV is back in action on Saturday at 6:35 p.m. when it visits Portland State.
 
The next event of the South Texas Showdown, presented by Navy Army Community Credit Union, is on Saturday at 6 p.m. when women's basketball visits TAMUCC.

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