Photo Gallery

EDINBURG – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) men's basketball team opened overtime on a 12-2 run to complete the season sweep of Chicago State University (CSU) with an 85-77 victory on Saturday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
 
Sophomore Antonio Green led UTRGV (10-12, 2-3 WAC) with 26 points while hitting seven three-pointers, raising his NCAA-leading total to 93. Junior Nick Dixon scored 22 points on 5-of-11 shooting plus a career-high 11-of-12 from line. Freshman Lesley Varner Jr. posted his first-career double-double with 14 points, a career-high 11 rebounds, a career-high seven assists and a career-high tying three steals. Junior Mike Hoffman scored 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting.
 
Fred Sims Jr. led CSU (6-16, 1-4 WAC) with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Clemmye Owens V scored 21 points while going 5-of-8 from behind the arc. Trayvon Palmer scored 16 points with 10 rebounds.
 
Palmer hit a layup on the first possession of overtime to give CSU a 72-70 lead, but Green hit a three-pointer, two layups and a free throw while Dixon made four free throws to give UTRGV an 82-72 lead with 2:03 remaining. During the run, UTRGV hit three of its four shots while grabbing three steals and holding CSU without a basket in three attempts.
 
CSU led for much of the first half, going up 31-16 on an Owens three-pointer with 6:02 left.
 
That's when UTRGV got hot, scoring 10-straight points as part of a 17-4 run to end the half and pull withing 35-33. During the run, Green hit a trio of three-pointers, but it was Hoffman's rebound and putback layup at the buzzer that put an exclamation point on the run.
 
Sophomore Lew Stallworth tied the game at 35 with a layup at the start of the second half. Green tied the game at 38 with a three and then Dixon tied the game at 40 with a layup.
 
CSU scored the next seven points to take the lead, but Hoffman bookended a 10-0 run with baskets to give UTRGV a 50-47 lead.
 
Owens responded with two three-pointers and a layup to put CSU up 55-50, and then Varner and Hoffman hit three-pointers around a Palmer three to bring UTRGV within 58-56 with 8:59 left.
 
Then, with the score 60-56, Stallworth and Dixon combined to go 4-for-4 from the line to tie the game. Palmer answered with two free throws of his own, but Dixon and Green hit back-to-back three-pointers to give UTRGV a 66-62 lead at the 5:05 mark.
 
CSU came back to tie the game at 68 on a Delundre Dixon layup. Nick Dixon hit a pair of free throws to give UTRGV the lead before Sims made a layup with 36 seconds left to send the game to overtime.
 
UTRGV plays its next two on the road, starting Thursday at 8 p.m. at Utah Valley.

Support UTRGV Men's Basketball | Become a Fan on Facebook | Follow us on Twitter | Follow us on Instagram | Follow us on YouTube