CHICAGO, Ill. – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) men's basketball team won its program record-tying fifth conference road game by beating Chicago State University (CSU) 82-77 on Thursday at Jones Convocation Center.
 
UTRGV (17-14, 8-6 WAC) previously won five conference road games as part of the Sun Belt in 1994-95 (5-4). UTRGV is now 7-7 on the road overall, its highest road win total since 1989-90 (7-6).
 
With 17 wins, UTRGV now has its highest overall win total since 2007-08 (18-13). The eight conference wins are the program's most since winning a program record 10 Sun Belt contests in 1994-95.
 
Sophomore Javon Levi led UTRGV with 11 points, 10 assists and four steals for his first-career double-double. Junior Lesley Varner II scored a team-high tying 14 points with seven rebounds and two steals. Graduate student Tyson Smith also scored 14 points. Graduate student Solomon Hainna scored 13 points with five rebounds. 
 
Travon Bell led CSU (3-26, 0-14 WAC) with 26 points while going 7-for-10 from behind the arc. Delshon Strickland scored 19 points while going 3-for-4 from behind the arc.
 
CSU led 54-41 with 16:53 remaining. That's when UTRGV got hot both offensively and defensively, going 14-for-23 from the field (60.9 percent) while holding CSU to 5-of-14 (35.7 percent) shooting to go on a 41-23 run to come from behind and win the game.
 
The run started with a free throw by junior Jordan Jackson and a Smith three. Then, after a Bell three, UTRGV held CSU without a basket for nearly 11 minutes while going on a 28-9 run to take the lead for good at 73-68 with 5:23 left.
 
CSU led 7-6 in the opening minutes, but a pair of Varner baskets sparked an 11-4 run to put UTRGV up 17-11. CSU responded by hitting four three-pointers to power a 19-6 run and take a 30-23 lead 
 
Hainna answered with a jumper, two free throws and a dunk to bring UTRGV within 34-31, but CSU closed the half on a 12-4 run to take a 46-35 lead.
 
UTRGV plays its final road game of the regular season on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Kansas City.

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