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UNT Dallas

UNT Dallas
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UNTDMBB vs. Nelson Recap Photo
Ian Kinder
78
Winner Nelson (Texas) NELSON ( 8-4, 6-3
74
UNT Dallas UNT DALL 6-6, 3-6
Winner
Nelson (Texas) NELSON (
8-4, 6-3
78
Final
74
UNT Dallas UNT DALL
6-6, 3-6
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Nelson (Texas) NELSON ( 43 35 78
UNT Dallas UNT DALL 29 45 74

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | nathanyacovissi

Trailblazers ignite Scoring Run Too Late on Saturday against Nelson

DALLAS, Texas – A furious run late in the game came up short for University of North Texas at Dallas men's basketball against Nelson with a 78-74 result on Saturday at Ellis Davis Field House. The Trailblazers fell to 6-6 on the season and 3-6 in Sooner Athletic Conference play. Down 43-29 at halftime and double-digits most of the game, the Trailblazers launched a 10-0 run in barely over a minute left in the contest to shrink the gap to two points (76-74).
 
With 1:13 left in the game, junior Daniel Sohn (Aledo, Texas) scored a fastbreak layup and senior Vernon Johnson (DeSoto, Texas) swiped a steal and layup back the other way on a breakaway basket with 56 ticks left. Johnson forced another turnover on a steal and would draw a foul with 29 seconds remaining. He connected on both shots at the free throw line. Nelson missed on a free throw that was a 1-and-1 attempt to give the Trailblazers possession back. Another foul three seconds later allowed a chance for UNTD to pull within a single possession.
 
Junior Greg Crawford (Houston, Texas) made the back-end of two attempts to make it a 76-72 game. Another steal, this time by Johnson's classmate Jayden Johnson-Blair (Dallas, Texas) on an inbounds pass that he deflected off of Nelson would give the home team more hope for an improbable comeback. After a missed three attempt, Johnson got the offensive rebound and put it back up to slice the score to 76-74. Out of the timeout, UNTD's defense held strong forcing another timeout by the Lions. The second time inbounding the ball was successful and despite a quick foul, the guests got both free throws in to seal the final score.
 
The Lions improved to 8-4 overall and 6-3 in conference action.
 
Crawford delivered another double-double performance as he continues to be in the only member in the league averaging one per game. He posted a team-high 17 points and 12 rebounds. Crawford keeps his double-digit scoring streak alive with the mark in all 12 games this season. The SAC Defensive Player of the Week set a season-high on blocks with three in the game and added a steal.
 
Sohn tallied a career-high 16 points and went 6-for-6 at the free throw line. He grabbed six rebounds. Johnson chipped in 13 points, shooting 5-of-9 from the floor. He had four rebounds and assists, while picking up both steals in the game during that late surge. Rounding out the quartet of double-digit scorers was senior Ashton Howard (Cedar Hill, Texas) with 11 points and he added six boards.
 
Johnson-Blair dished a team-high six assists, as the team tied its second highest total on the season with 16 and was two shy of tying the season-most against Oklahoma City (Nov. 2). Johnson (4), Howard (3), and Crawford (2) gave multiple dimes.
 
The Trailblazers shot 45 percent (27-60) from the floor, which included 48.6 percent (17-35) in the second half. They made three trifectas and were 17-for-22 at the free throw line. Most categories were close, but UNTD did hold a significant 13-2 advantage on second chance points and 42-32 edge on points in the paint.
 
UNT Dallas jumped out to a 3-0 lead after an old-fashioned three-point play by Crawford in the first minute of the game. That matched the largest gap of the game for the home squad. The Lions responded with seven straight points over the next two minutes. Johnson scored five points with a jumper and trifecta bookending seven straight points to make it 10-7 through five and a half minutes. Nelson changed the momentum with 12 points unanswered and built a 19-10 lead just before the midway juncture of the frame. A trey by junior Jason Orta (Crandall, Texas) and two by Johnson cut the gap to four points (19-15).
 
With seven and a half minutes before intermission, a six-point gap evaporated with Jonson-Blair hitting a three and back-to-back inside field goals by Sohn to make it a 24-23 lead for UNT Dallas.
 
The final 5:44 minutes of the first stanza went the Lions way, as they put together a 20-5 run. This was the first time at home this season that the Trailblazers were behind at halftime.
 
The Trailblazers worked the deficit down to 11 points in the first portion of the second half, but another surge for Nelson expanded the lead to its greatest margin of 18 points (66-48) with just under 10 to play. The Trailblazers held strong there and worked the margin down methodically, but never got a boost to reach single-digits, until the urgency appeared in the final 73 seconds of the game. UNTD has dropped four conference games by four points or fewer, which includes all three home conference matchups.
 
UNT Dallas closes the 2024 portion of the season with an exhibition at NCAA Division I Rice on December 19 at 11:15 a.m. The Trailblazers resume play at Ellis Davis Field House on Saturday, January 4 against Southwestern Christian.
 
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