EDINBURG – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) men's basketball team rallied back from a 14-point deficit to take the lead midway through the second half before ultimately falling to Grand Canyon University (GCU) 79-66 on Saturday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
 
Sophomore Antonio Green led UTRGV (9-12, 1-3 WAC) with 23 points while hitting five three-pointers, raising his NCAA-leading total to 86. Junior Nick Dixon posted his second double-double with 17 points and a career-high tying 10 rebounds. Sophomore Lew Stallworth finished with 10 points, six assists and three steals.
 
Keonta Vernon led GCU (11-7, 2-1 WAC) with 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting, nine rebounds and two steals. DeWayne Russell scored 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting with five rebounds and seven assists. Joshua Braun scored 16 points with five rebounds. Gerard Martin finished with 14 points and five rebounds.
 
Stallworth and freshman Xavier McDaniel Jr. hit a pair of threes to give UTRGV an early 6-2 lead, but GCU responded with a 14-0 run, capped by four-straight Vernon baskets, to take a 16-6 lead.
 
Freshman McAllen-native Moe McDonald snapped the run with a three. Freshman Lesley Varner Jr. followed with a pair of free throws, and then, after a Russell layup, Green nailed a three to bring UTRGV within 18-14. Russell hit two layups and a free throw, however, to help GCU score 10-straight points, pushing the lead to 14.
 
That's when UTRGV caught fire, hitting six of its next nine shots while holding GCU to 1-of-8 shooting during an 18-5 run to bring UTRGV within 33-32 at halftime. UTRGV scored the final eight points of the run and Stallworth put an exclamation point on it by going coast-to-coat for a dunk off a rebound by junior Mike Hoffman.
 
UTRGV regained the lead four minutes into the second half on a Green three that made it 40-39.
 
A Russell jumper and a pair of Shaq Carr free throws put GCU up three, but Hoffman made a jumper and Dixon hit back-to-back layups to put UTRGV up 46-43 with 13:16 remaining.
 
UTRGV still led 49-47 after a Stallworth layup a little over a minute later, but Martin hit a three to spark a 10-0 run to give GCU an eight-point lead.
 
Green responded by scoring nine points on a three and six free throws to power a 12-6 run to bring UTRGV within 63-61 at the 6:33 mark, but GCU went on an 15-2 run to push the game out of reach.
 
UTRGV hosts Chicago State on Saturday at 7 p.m. in a game that will be televised throughout Texas on Spectrum Sports channel 323. Doors open at 6.

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