LAREDO, Texas (January 22, 2026) – The University of Texas Permian Basin men's basketball team is winning at the right time as the Falcons earned their fourth win in the last five games with a 100-95 win in overtime at Texas A&M International University on Thursday night. The win for the Falcons came thanks to a herculean effort by Sharrod Taylor, who hit the game-tying 3-pointer with 4.4 seconds left in regulation to send it to overtime and finished the game with 35 points.

Taylor shot 9-for-16 from the field, 5-for-8 from three and 12-for-14 from the free throw line, but in addition to his 35 points, added a team-high nine rebounds, a team-high five assists, and a game-high four steals. He scored 20 points in the second half and added six more points in the overtime period.

Taylor was not alone, however, as Bryceson Burns added 19 points and both TJ McKenzie and Tash Lunday scored 18 points.

With UTPB (8-11 overall, 4-7 Lone Star Conference) on the comeback trail for most of the second half, Taylor did his best to be aggressive down the stretch and keep the Falcons in it. He scored 10 points (2-for-2 on 3-pointers, 4-for-4 on free throws) during a four-minute span that made it an 80-73 Falcons' deficit with two and a half minutes left, and then in the final minute and a half, Taylor was fouled shooting a 3-pointer and hit his first two free throws to make it 80-75.

The Falcons' defense had to turn to the full-court press in the final minute of regulation, leading to a steal and a layup by McKenzie to make it 82-78 with 40 seconds left. Then after a 1-for-2 trip at the free throw line for TAMIU, yet another three by Taylor got the Falcons to within two (83-81) with under 20 seconds to go. With TAMIU at the line with 10.4 seconds left, Caylen Goff Brown missed his second shot to keep it a one-score game (84-81).

After a timeout with 9.3 seconds on the clock, UTPB had to go the length of the court, Connor Morris was able to complete the inbounds pass to Taylor, and Taylor took it up the court with his defender, Aaron Perez, draped all over him, but somehow Taylor rose up and sank the game-tying 3-pointer with 4.4 seconds on the clock.

Goff Brown would make a layup for TAMIU on the other end, but after replay, it was confirmed that he did not get the shot off in time, forcing overtime.

UTPB opened the scoring in overtime with a pair of free throws by Lunday, and then on the ensuing possession, Taylor picked the pocket of the Dustdevils and took it the other way for a layup to make it 88-84 Falcons.

After TAMIU cut it to one (88-87) with an and-one, McKenzie made two free throws and then caught the Dustdevils' defense napping on the next possession as he took it in for a layup to make it 92-87.

Leading 92-90 in the final two minutes of overtime, Taylor made a great pass to find Lunday open under the basket for a layup, and then on the next UTPB possession, Taylor took it himself and finished through traffic to make it 96-90 with one minute remaining.

With a four-point lead (96-92), Taylor went to the free throw line with 29 seconds left, and made both shots to make it a six-point lead (98-92). Perez did hit a 3-pointer, his fifth three of the game, with 23.4 seconds left to cut the deficit in half (98-95) and extend the game for TAMIU, but the Falcons played some keep away with the basketball until Lunday went back to the line with 14.8 seconds left and sank both shots to seal the win.

UTPB was 4-for-5 from the field (80.0 percent) and 8-for-8 from the free throw line in overtime. The Falcons were also 17-for-21 (80.95 percent) from the line in the second half, aiding their effort to stay in the game and force overtime, and ultimately finished the contest 31-for-37 (83.8 percent) from the charity stripe. It was a season-high in both free throws made and free throws attempted for the Falcons, and was their most since going 40-for-45 and 35-for-46 in back-to-back games in November of the 2022-23 season.

Before Taylor Forced Overtime
After falling behind by nine points in the first half, UTPB fell behind by eight points (57-49) less than seven minutes into the second half, but just like they did in the first half, the Falcons battled back. UTPB scored on four straight possessions as a pair of free throws by Brady Watson, an and-one by McKenzie and a layup by Taylor made it 57-56, and then a 1-for-2 trip from the free throw line by McKenzie tied it at 57-57 with just over 11 and a half minutes left to play.

That was the third tie of the second half, but TAMIU kept up its hot start to the period as the Dustdevils made 10 of their first 14 shots in the half to take a four-point lead (61-57) halfway through the period.

UTPB, meanwhile, made a concerted effort in the second half to get to the free throw line, shooting nine free throws (8-for-9) in the first nine minutes of the period, and then after he started the half with a pair makes from the line, two more free throws by Burns got the Falcons to within two (63-61) with just under eight and a half minutes remaining.

After a 3-pointer by Taylor for UTPB, TAMIU answered immediately with a 3-pointer by Perez, and then on the next Dustdevils' possession, a three by Goff Brown made it a 10-point lead (76-66) with under five and a half minutes to go. TAMIU was still shooting 68.2 percent (15-22) from the field and 54.5 percent (6-11) from three to that point in the second half.

That is where Taylor's heroics took full effect as both teams ultimately ended up shooting at least 50 percent from the field with at least four 3-pointers in the second half.

UTPB Head Coach Kyle Tolin said, "It was a great road win. I thought our team just hung in there when things did not look great. Sharrod made some huge plays for us down the stretch."

In addition to improving to 3-0 in overtime games so far this season, UTPB moved up from 16th place in the LSC men's basketball standings to a tie for 11th place with the win.

After playing just one game this week on Thursday, UTPB will do the same next week, hosting Angelo State University at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 29, in the team's final game of January.