UTRGV survives Sam Houston St. 90-86 in double overtime

EDINBURG, Texas (AP) — Lesley Varner II recorded career highs in points and rebounds and tied a career-high steals mark and UT Rio Grande Valley beat Sam Houston State 90-86 in double overtime on Tuesday night.

Varner scored 33 points with 13 rebounds and five steals.

Kai Mitchell made back-to-back jump shots for Sam Houston State to tie it at 86 in the second overtime, but the Bearkats never scored again. Jordan Jackson made a pair of foul shots with 74 seconds to go and Varner sealed it with a pair of foul shots with 2 seconds left. Sam Houston State missed its last four shots.

Trailing 82-78 with less than a minute left in the first overtime, Jackson and Varner each made a pair of free throws to force the second extra session. Anthony Bratton threw down a dunk for the Vaqueros with 6 seconds left at the end of regulation to tie it at 70 apiece.

Jackson scored 15 for UTRGV (3-5) and Bratton posted career highs in points and rebounds with 12 and 14, respectively. Javon Levi tied a career-high distributing 13 of the Vaqueros’ 20 assists.

Zach Nutall led Sam Houston State (4-4) with 22 points and Mitchell grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds and scored 18.