DESTIN, Fla. – Sophomore
Antonio Green hit a program record 10 three-pointers to lead the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) men's basketball team past Grambling State University (GSU) 101-93 in overtime on Friday at Northwest Florida State College Arena in the Pool B semifinals of the Destiny Realty Emerald Coast Classic.
UTRGV (1-5) advances to the Pool B Championship Game against St. Francis on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
Green attempted all of his shots from behind the arc, going 10-for-14 for a career-high 30 points. As a team, UTRGV finished with a program record-tying 17 three-pointers on 36 attempts (47.2 percent).
Four other UTRGV players reached double-figures in scoring, led by junior
Nick Dixon, who scored 19 points with five assists and three steals. Freshman
Xavier McDaniel Jr. scored 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Junior
Mike Hoffman finished with a career-high tying 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting with a career-high tying seven rebounds. Sophomore
Lew Stallworth scored 10 points with a career-high 10 assists for his first-career double-double.
Avery Ugba led GSU (2-3) with 26 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field, plus 8-of-13 from the line.
Redmond Brown scored 25 points on 11-of-22 shooting with three steals.
Ervin Mitchell recorded a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds.
UTRGV and GSU traded baskets over the first three minutes, but with the score tied at 6, junior
Gage Loy and Hoffman made baskets and Green buried a three to put UTRGV up by seven.
UTRGV still led by seven at 15-8 on a Dixon layup, but Ugba scored nine points to power a 19-7 run to put GSU up 27-22 with 5:43 remaining in the first half.
UTRGV came back to tie the game at 34 on a McDaniel jumper three and a half minutes later and then Stallworth nailed a three as the first half ended to give UTRGV the lead.
Green started the second half with a three and scored 18 points on six three-pointers in a span of six and a half minutes as UTRGV hit eight three-pointers to go on a 27-12 run and push the lead to 64-46.
UTRGV still led by 18 at 71-53 after a Green three-pointer midway through the half,
UTRGV's lead was 17 after a Hoffman jumper with 5:18 remaining, but GSU hit 8 of its next 12 shots, inclduing a Brown layup at the buzzer, to tie the game at 88 at the end of regulation.
Mitchell made a layup at the start of overtime to give GSU the lead, but UTRGV scored the next eight points as part of a 13-3 run to end the game.
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