UT Rio Grande Valley edges Grand Canyon 83-81

Feb 9, 2018, 04:27 am

EDINBURG, Texas -- Xavier McDaniel Jr. scored 17 points and made a key 3-pointer in the final minute to help UT Rio Grande Valley beat Grand Canyon 83-81 on Thursday night.

The Vaqueros (13-12, 4-4 Western Athletic Conference) have won three of their last four games. Grand Canyon (17-8, 6-3) had its two-game win streak snapped, and drops a half-game back of Utah Valley (17-7, 6-2) for second in the conference standings.

McDaniel's 3-pointer gave the Vaqueros an 80-79 lead with 51 seconds left. The teams traded a pair of free throws to make it 82-81. Mike Hoffman made the second of two free-throw attempts to stretch the Vaqueros lead to 83-81 with six seconds to play, and Grand Canyon's Alessandro Lever missed a layup at the buzzer.

Nick Dixon scored 22 points to lead UT Rio Grande Valley.

Lever shot just 4 of 12 from the field, but made 14 of 16 free throws and finished with 22 points to lead the Antelopes. Casey Benson added 17 points, 10 rebounds and six assists.