Lathon hits dramatic game winner as UTEP edges Rice 65-64
EL PASO, Texas (AP) — Freshman guard Jordan Lathon scored 17 points and beat the buzzer with an 18-foot jumper and UTEP defeated Rice 65-64 after a wild final sequence on Saturday night.
Lathon, a late signee who was originally headed to Northwestern, twice gave the Miners the lead in the final 14 seconds. UTEP had the ball with 34 seconds on the game clock in a tie game. The Miners worked the clock down to 14 seconds and Lathon hit a jumper for a two-point lead. After a Rice timeout, Chris Mullins missed a tying jumper, Trey Murphy rebounded, found the 3-point line and put Rice ahead 64-63 with less than 2 seconds remaining.
Officials reviewed the play to determine how much time remained and set the clock at 1.5 seconds. UTEP's inbound pass was knocked out of bounds along the base line and the Miners had another chance, now with .5 seconds left. Ountae Campbell threw a three-quarters court pass to Lathon who grabbed it and hit a turn-around jumper to win it.
Nigel Hawkins led UTEP (6-9, 1-3 Conference USA) with 24 points. Evan Gilyard scored 12 points and Lathon, in addition to his 17 points, had seven rebounds and five assists.
Jack Williams had 15 points and 11 rebounds, Robert Martin added 14 points and 12 rebounds and Mullins had 10 points for the Owls (7-11, 2-3).
