CORPUS CHRISTI – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) men's basketball beat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 76-69 in the South Texas Showdown, presented by Navy Army Community Credit Union, on Monday at the American Bank Center.
 
Coupled with women's basketball's simultaneous 59-49 home loss, UTRGV (2-1) now leads Corpus Christi (2-1) 17.5-to-4.5 in the showdown standings.
 
Junior Lesley Varner II led UTRGV with a career-high 21 points and seven rebounds. This is the third-straight game in which Varner has broken or matched his career-high in scoring. Senior Terry Winn III scored 18 points with nine rebounds. Graduate student Tyson Smith finished with 12 points.
 
Tony Lewis led Corpus Christi with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Ammanuel Toney scored 14 points with six assists. Myles Smith finished with 11 points.
 
The game was tight throughout, with the largest lead of the first 10 minutes coming at 13:41 when a layup by junior Jordan Jackson put UTRGV up 16-11.
 
The score stayed within one possession for the next 13 minutes. With UTRGV down 30-29, however, Varner hit a pair of three free throws, Smithknocked down a three and Winn made a jumper to give UTRGV a 36-30 halftime lead.
 
Corpus Christi started the second half with an 8-2 run to tie the game at 38. Sophomore Greg Bowie II responded with a three to spark a 10-4 run to put UTRGV up 48-42.
 
Corpus Christi scored the next seven points to take the lead and the game remained within one possession until UTRGV scored six-straight points, capped by a pair of Winn free throws, to take a 60-53 lead with 7:06 remaining.
 
Corpus Christi made one more run, climbing to within 62-61 with 3:46 to play, but Smith made a three and a layup and then Varner hit a three, a layup and four free throws to push the game out of reach.
 
UTRGV is back in action on Wednesday at 7 p.m. against Prairie View A&M at the UTRGV Fieldhouse. There will be a Happy Hour pregame rally at 6 during which fans can enjoy discounted concessions. Doors open at 6.
 
The next event of the SouthTexas Showdown, presented by Navy Army Community Credit Union, is on Nov. 26 at 7 p.m. when men's basketball hosts Corpus Christi at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.

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