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EDINBURG – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) men's basketball team scored 59 points on .679 shooting in the second half to close out non-conference play with a 96-78 victory over Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TAMUK) on Saturday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
 
UTRGV (8-9) has now won three in a row and six of seven entering Western Athletic Conference (WAC) play.
 
Sophomore Antonio Green led UTRGV with 21 points while going 5-for-10 from behind the arc. Green now has an NCAA-best 75 three-pointers this season and is averaging an NCAA-best 4.41 three-pointers per game. Junior Mike Hoffman scored a career-high 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including 3-of-4 from behind the arc, plus 5-of-5 from the line. Junior Nick Dixon scored 14 points with four assists and two steals. Sophomore Lew Stallworth finished with 12 points, five assists and three steals.
 
Robert Stevenson led TAMUK (7-5) with 14 points on 6-of-6 shooting. Derrick Byrd scored 12 points while Caelan Neal finished with 11 points.
 
UTRGV led 37-34 at the start of the second half and still led by three at 41-38 two minutes later, but a Dixon layup sparked a 17-5 run to put UTRGV up 58-43.
 
TAMUK climbed wtihin 59-48 on three Neal free throws before freshman Lesley Varner Jr. hit a three-pointer to kick-off a 12-0 run to make it 71-48 midway through the half.
 
TAMUK scored 14 of the next 16 points to pull within 11. But with the score 75-64 at the 6:12 mark, Hoffman and Stallworth made baskets as UTRGV went on an 18-6 run to push the game out of reach.
 
UTRGV jumped out to a 20-8 lead over the first nine minutes of the game by going 7-of-13 from the field, including a pair of three-pointers by Green and one each by Hoffman and Dixon.
 
UTRGV still led by 12 at 24-12 after a pair of free throws by sophomore Walter Jones with 8:51 remaining, but TAMUK scored the next eight points as part of a 12-3 run to pull within 27-24.
 
UTRGV opens WAC play on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Chicago State.

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