DALLAS, Texas – A tough second half resulted in consecutive two-point setbacks for University of North Texas at Dallas men's basketball, as a 31-11 run for Oklahoma City led to a 75-73 result at Ellis Davis on Saturday afternoon. Two nights ago, the Trailblazers rallied late in the second half and eventually fell by two points to open Sooner Athletic Conference play. This time it was a 47-38 second half favoring the No. 23 Stars that proved to be the difference with the above scoring outburst the main culprit.
 
It was a back-and-forth game throughout the opening half with four lead changes and seven ties. The Trailblazers (3-2, 0-2 SAC) made their first big run with eight straight points about the midway juncture of the first half thanks to field goals by junior Jason Orta (Crandall, Texas) that bookend the streak. UNTD never trailed the rest of the half or most of the next half until late in the game. The Stars (6-0, 2-0 SAC) pulled within a point several times in the first half. UNT Dallas counted with two trifectas in a row by senior Jayden Johnson-Blair (Dallas, Texas) and senior Darion Jones (Austin, Texas) to ease the advantage back to seven. That margin ended up being the same at halftime with a 35-28 score.
 
OCU worked to get the score within four points in the next half. The Trailblazers did get their final push offensively about six minutes in, as an 18-4 scoring stretch extended the lead to their largest of the game at 18 (62-44) with 10:12 remaining. During the midst of the scoring run for the Stars mentioned above, UNTD held a two-point lead with 1:38 left. Senior Vernon Johnson (DeSoto, Texas) split at the free throw line and after OCU got two more points, it was junior Greg Crawford with a layup to make it a three-point edge (73-70). Two free throws with 37 seconds left pulled the Stars within one. A turnover allowed OCU to get the ball back and with 18 seconds left an offensive rebound by Clayton Jewell would lead to a good jumper deep in the post for a 74-73 lead. The Trailblazers could not answer back with an offensive foul called and then a game-winning three attempt was long to the left of the basket.
 
UNT Dallas shot 45.3 percent for the game, made four three-pointers, and was 11-for-15 at the free throw line. The Trailblazers held a 17-8 advantage on second chance points and 6-0 on fast break points.
 
A quartet from UNTD scored in double-digits from the starters led by Darion Jones (Austin, Texas) with 14 points. Junior Sergio McClain (Peoria, Ill.) followed with 13 points, one shy of season-high and had three-of-four rebounds from the offensive side. Junior Greg Crawford (Houston, Texas) recorded his third double-double of the campaign with 12 points and rebounds It was his highest total of rebounds this season and the 12 points maintained a five-game streak of scoring in double figures. Johnson-Blair (Dallas, Texas) had 11 points and was one assist short of matching his own individual game record last February on the 24th against Panhandle State (8). Johnson added nine points, five rebounds, and three steals. Orta had seven points from the bench with a 3-for-5 effort and a trey.
 
Oklahoma City was led by Avery Jackson with a game-high 30 points and was 11-of-15 from the field. Clayton Jewell notched a double-double with 20 points and 10 boards. Yorgio Golesis had 11 points and five assists to round out a trio from the team that combined for 61 points. The former two mentioned combined for 36 points in the last half with Jackson compiling two dozen.
 
UNT Dallas wraps up a busy conference stretch with its third game in five days. The Trailblazers are at Texas Wesleyan on Monday, November 18th. Tip-off is at 8:00 p.m.