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Chris Baldwin's tip-in with less than a second remaining kept Texas Southern's winning streak alive as the Tigers clawed back for a 77-75 non-conference win over UTRGV inside the H&PE Arena Saturday night.
TSU's regularly scheduled SWAC contest versus Prairie View A&M was postponed and the Tigers had less than a day to prepare for UTRGV. To make matters worse, TSU was without its leading scorer in Michael Weathers as UTRGV entered Saturday's game with an 8-3 record.
TSU came out on fire on both ends early as they jumped out to a 9-2 lead less than three minutes in. The lead grew to 12-4 at the 16:49 mark after a John Jones three-pointer but UTRGV rallied back with an 8-0 run to knot the game at 12-all. TSU went on a 7-0 run shortly thereafter as Galen Alexander scored four of the next seven points. From that point, TSU would continue to hold a lead over the next few minutes as they did their best to keep UTRGV at bay despite several attempted runs.
However, UTRGV fought back and tied the contest at 38-all with 1:30 remaining after a trey by Uche Dibiamaka. TSU's Justin Hopkins responded with a layup on the ensuing possession to move ahead 40-38 but UTRGV's Malik Lawrence-Anderson hit a layup to tie the game again. TSU missed a jumper with 32 seconds left which led to UTRGV's LaQuan Butler's basket for a 42-40 margin. In what would be foreshadowing, TSU's Chris Baldwin hit a jumper with no time remaining for a 42-42 halftime tie.
UTRGV opened the second half with a 9-2 run and took advantage of a cold spell by TSU to lead 51-44 with 17:12 left. TSU battled back over the next 6:19 with an 11-2 run of its own to regain a 55-53 lead as Karl Nicholas led the charge with four points while the TSU defense stepped up and held UTRGV to 1-of-9 shooting. UTRGV regained the momentum over the few minutes as LaQuan Butler scored the next five points to key a 7-1 run for a 60-56 lead with 8:41 remaining.
UTRGV would hold the lead for the next four minutes but TSU clawed its way back as Galen Alexander put the team his back with eight points over the next 6:27 to regain a 71-69 lead. UTRGV's Marek Nelson answered with a trey for a 72-71 lead but Baldwin responded with a layup off an Alexander assist for a 73-72 TSU lead. UTRGV would turn the ball over on its next possession as Alexander picked up the steal and Baldwin tipped in a missed basket to lead 75-72.
Nelson hit a clutch jumper once again to bring UTRGV within 75-74 but TSU committed a crucial turnover late as UTRGV's Javon Levi picked up the steal before being fouled. Levi hit 1-of2 free throws as the game was tied at 75-all with 31 seconds remaining. TSU would hold the ball until the 10 second mark to run its offense and it appeared Gilliam's shot was going to fall short. However, Baldwin was in the right place at the right time as he scored the game-winner with .06 seconds to put TSU on top as UTRGV's final heave was short.
Alexander had a strong night with 26 points on 10-of-14 shooting along with five rebounds, three assists and two steals. Karl Nicholas added 16 points, three blocks and four rebounds while Baldwin added 10 points.
TSU is back in action next Saturday at Grambling State.
Courtesy: TSU Athletics
