Las Vegas, NV (Sports Network) – Arsalan Kazemi led all scorers with 19 points and 12 rebounds, as Rice held on to edge Stetson, 66-63, at the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic.
Trey Stanton chipped in with 11 points and eight boards for Rice (6-4), which has won three straight after dropping four of its previous five games. Tamir Jackson added 10 points in the victory.
Corey Walden finished with 15 points and Aaron Graham donated 13 for Stetson (3-7), which have lost three in a row and four of five. Ridge Graham and Joel Naburgs netted 12 and 11 points, respectively, in defeat.
Rice led by a slim 31-30 score after the opening 20 minutes and stretched its margin to nine, 50-41, after Jackson’s layup approaching the midway point of the second half.
Stanton’s three-pointer with one minute left put the Owls up 63-56, but Stetson mounted a 7-1 run to get within one with 22 seconds remaining.
Jackson was fouled and drained two at the stripe with 19 ticks left and Tyshawn Patterson’s three was off the mark with two seconds to go, allowing Rice to hold on for the 66-63 victory.