For the University of North Texas at Dallas basketball teams, Saturday (Jan. 22) afternoon against Texas Wesleyan in the Singing Hills Recreation Center marked the end of a demanding three-loss week   The men lost an exciting battle, 67-64, and the women were defeated, 74-56.  Earlier, they had been on the road to face nationally-ranked teams like Southwest Assembly of God and Oklahoma Science & Arts and suffered one-sided defeats.
     Saturday, against visiting Texas Wesleyan, it was more of the same. as the weary, roster thin Trailblazers squads tumbled deeper in the Sooner Athletic Conference standings. The women are currently 4-10 (including a forfeit) in SAC play and 10-11 for the season. The men are 4-10 and 8-13.
     And now the schedule demands two road trips this week as they visit John Brown Thursday (Jan. 27)and Oklahoma City Saturday (Jan. 29) to close out a difficult March schedule.
     If there is a bright side, it is in the fact both Trailblazers teams showed renewed spark Saturday.
     The UNTD men, with head coach Josh Howard back at the helm after undergoing recent shoulder surgery, kept it close in an exchange-of-baskets battle. Texas Wesleyan led by only 34-33 at intermission and the score was tied midway through the second half (47-47). With six minutes to go, UNTD narrowed the margin to just one at 56-55 before the visitors took charge and posted their ninth SAC win and 16^th of the season.
     Demaryon Thornton and Christian Plummer led the Trailblazers scoring with 15 points each with Vernon Johnson contributing 14 points and seven rebounds.
     It was rebounding that helped key the Texas Wesleyan win as it has 33 while UNTD managed only 22. And, its scoring was well distributed as five players scored in double figures.
    Rodney Belcher's women took advantage of a sluggish start by their opponents and kept it interesting early. The teams were tied at 16 after one and Texas Wesleyan led by only three at intermission. Then in the second half the visitors came alive and, with a 10-point advantage in the final quarter, managed their easy victory. to go 11-2 in conference play.
     For the Trailblazers, playing with only an eight-member roster, a new star is emerging. Delyssa Miller, who joined the team at mid-term, continued her double digit scoring with 16 points and pulled down 10 rebounds.  Mykayla Dumas scored 15 and Zyunn Cormier added 12.
     As with the men's game, rebounds made a major difference as Texas Wesleyan ended the game with a 49-30 edge.