OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – A late rally in the final four and a half minutes was short of a comeback win for University of North Texas at Dallas men's basketball in a 76-74 final on Thursday night in the Sooner Athletic Conference opener at Mid-America Christian. The Trailblazers (3-1, 0-1 SAC) stumbled for the first time on the campaign after winning their first three outings for an unprecedented start. Despite trailing by double-digits most of the night, UNTD battled throughout the evening and used an 18-8 run to close the gap and were within three points in the final 10 seconds twice before free throws sealed the result.
 
Mid-America Christian (4-0, 1-0 SAC) made 10 three-pointers to headline a sharp-shooting night and keep the margin around double-digits throughout. The home team got a dunk to go up 12-points with four and a half minutes remaining and called a timeout. It was UNTD that surged from the break, as junior Daniel Sohn (Aledo, Texas) sank a three-pointer and then back-to-back offensive rebound tip-ins from seniors Darion Jones (Austin, Texas) and Vernon Johnson (DeSoto, Texas) gave the visitors seven straight points and a five-point gap in two minutes. Sides traded points and then UNTD's leading scorer junior Greg Crawford (Houston, Texas) had an old fashioned three-point play make it a 72-68 game with a minute and a half.
 
Crawford came up defensively with a block in the paint that led to a UNTD stop and gave the team a chance to come within a possession with just under a minute left. The Trailblazers missed on a three-point attempt, but did gain another stop. A split at the free throw line pulled UNTD within three but the Evangels made their final four free throws to keep the game at two possessions. A long range three by senior Jayden Johnson-Blair (Dallas, Texas) tallied the final total.
 
MACU jumped out to a quick lead in the opening stanza with a 16-5 lead through the first seven minutes. Down nearly double-digits most of the frame, the Trailblazers got hot with a triple by Crawford and then consecutive baskets by Johnson-Blair to make it a four-point game (25-21) with 3:42 before halftime. A trio of trifectas for the home side highlighted an 11-4 swing that made it 36-25 at the break. Johnson-Blair had a late-second basket to finish the half strong for UNTD and gave him six of the final eight points for his squad.
 
In the second half, the Evangels grew a lead as large as 15 early on, but UNTD grinded hard to keep within striking distance and eventually got a late push to threaten in its closest game historically with Mid-America Christian.
 
UNT Dallas shot 45.9 percent from the field and had two more made field goals (28) than the Evangels (26). The road team made five three-pointers and were 13-for-22 at the free throw line. MACU had 10 treys and went 14-for-19. The Trailblazers outscored MACU 44-30 on points in the paint and had an 11-6 edge on second chance points.
 
Crawford continued his strong start to the season with his second double-double on the year and eclipsed 20 points a third time. He had 10 rebounds to lead all players and added two blocks and three steals. Johnson-Blair had a season-high 12 points and contributed six rebounds and four assists. Jones had 11 points to keep his double-digit streak alive at all four games. Johnson completed the quartet of scorers in double figures with 10 points and matched a team-high in assists with four. Sohn posted a season-best from the bench with nine and snatched three steals to match Crawford for a team-most.
 
MACU was led by Josiah Fulcher with 25 points, while Juwan White had 19. The tandem along with Magok Manyang each had three trifectas.
 
UNT Dallas returns to Ellis Davis Center on Saturday, November 16 for a 4:00 p.m. tip-off with Oklahoma City.