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EDINBURG – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) men's basketball team dropped the regular season finale to California Baptist University (CBU) 82-79 in overtime on Thursday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
 
UTRGV (18-15, 9-7 WAC) will open the WAC Tournament on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. against CSU Bakersfield at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. The winner will face the winner of top-seeded New Mexico State and eighth-seeded Chicago State in the semifinals on Friday, March 15 at 8 p.m.
 
Senior Terry Winn III led UTRGV with 21 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Junior Lesley Varner II scored 18 points with seven rebounds. Sophomore Javon Levi scored 17 points with seven rebounds and eight assists. Junior Jordan Jackson scored 10 points.
 
Jordin Heading led CBU (16-13, 7-8 WAC) with 26 points, six rebounds and three assists. Marquise Mosley and Ty Rowell each finished with 13 points. De'jon Davis scored 12 points with 10 rebounds. Jeremy Smith scored 10 points.
 
UTRGV led 8-2 in the opening two minutes. CBU tied the game, but UTRGV responded with a 12-5 run, capped by a Crnogorac jumper, to take a 20-13 lead.
 
Then, with the score 27-20, Heading made three-straight three-pointers to give CBU the lead. The game stayed tight the rest of the half, with Levi nailing a jumper at the halftime buzzer to give UTRGV a 40-35 lead.
 
CBU got close early in the second half, pulling to within 48-46 before UTRGV pushed back to go up seven again, including at 55-48 on a Varner layup with 8:52 remaining.

CBU scored seven of the next eight points, but UTRGV maintained its lead, going up 66-62 on a pair of Winn free throws with 1:48 left. That's when Smith hit two layups and Heading made a jumper to give CBU the lead with six seconds to go.
 
Winn made two free throws with 0.4 seconds on the clock to force overtime.
 
UTRGV led by as much as three in overtime at 76-73 on a Varner three-point play with 2:43 remaining. Rowell and Mosley responded with three-pointers, however, to give CBU the lead for good.

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