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EDINBURG – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) men's basketball team rallied back from a nine-point deficit to tie the game before falling to New Mexico State 63-61 on Saturday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
 
Senior Terry Winn IIIled UTRGV (10-12, 2-4 WAC) with 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting. Sophomore Javon Levi scored 11 points with seven assists and two steals. Graduate student Tyson Smith added 10 points.
 
AJ Harrisled NM State (16-4, 5-1 WAC) with 12 points, three assists and four steals. Ivan Aurrecoechea scored 12 points with five rebounds. Eli Chuha finished with 10 points and six rebounds.
 
NM State led 53-44 with 5:04 remaining. That's when junior Jordan Jackson converted a three-point play and added a jumper to bring UTRGV within four. Then, with the score 56-50, a Winn three-point play brought UTRGV to within one possession.
 
UTRGV trailed 59-53 when Levi nailed a three with 38.5 seconds left. Harris went 1-for-2 from the line and Smith ran down the court to make a three and bring UTRGV within 60-59.
 
Jabari Rice then went 1-for-2 from the line and Smith hit a game-tying layup with 12.8 seconds left. Chuha responded with a layup with 6.1 seconds remaining. On the ensuing possession, Levi brought the ball down for UTRGV and tried to beat Harris on his left, but Harris cut-off Levi's angle to the basket, leading to a steal by Shunn Buchanan to end the game.
 
Winn came up with a dunk and a jumper as UTRGV jumped out to a 4-0 lead. UTRGV still led at 6-5 on a layup by sophomore Greg Bowie II before NM State scored six-straight points to take the lead.
 
NM State held that lead until the final seven minutes of the half, when a Levi three-point play gave UTRGV a 16-15 lead. Terrell Brown answered with a three and a layup to put NM State back on top, but with UTRGV down 22-18, Winn made a jumper and Levi nailed a three to restore UTRGV's advantage.
 
Then, with NM State up two in the final seconds of the half, Levi beat the buzzer with a layup to tie the game at 27.
 
UTRGV trailed 29-27 early in the second half when graduate student Solomon Hainna and Winn made back-to-back baskets to give UTRGV the lead. A Winn jumper at the 12:29 mark put UTRGV up 33-31.
 
New Mexico State responded with a 10-1 run to take the lead, which they held until the final seconds.
 
UTRGV is back in action on Thursday at 7 p.m. against Chicago State at the UTRGV Fieldhouse. The first 200 fans in attendance will receive a UTRGV pennant. Doors open at 6.

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