MCPHERSON, Kan. – A second half push proved enough to lead University of North Texas at Dallas past Central Christian, 75-68, on the road on Saturday. The Trailblazers (6-5, 3-5 SAC) flipped a woeful shooting first half (25 percent) to their highest point-total in a half this year with 50 that led to a triumph. UNTD shot 48.9 percent from the floor that frame and were 14-for-19 at the free throw line.
 
Junior Greg Crawford (Houston, Texas) continued his strong conference performance streak, matching a season-high consecutive games with 26 points. He shot 9-of-15 from the floor, made both three-pointers attempted, was 6-for-7 at the charity stripe, and hauled down a personal-best 13 rebounds. Beyond the guard/forward's eighth double-double of the campaign, he eclipsed 20 points a third straight contest and has set a conference-high in points each time in this span. The three steals matched a season-high.
 
The trio of Sooner Athletic Conference victories this season have one thing in common – a halftime deficit, a double-digit margin deficit at some juncture of the second half, a Trailblazers surge down the stretch, and were on the road. While it does not always turn out favorable this season, UNTD continues to demonstrate its never out of a game and competes to the last buzzer.
 
The Trailblazers started with a lead this game as Crawford netted the first four points and junior Daniel Sohn (Aledo, Texas) got a layup after an offensive rebound to give his team the first six points. Central Christian (8-3, 4-3 SAC) responded to three different UNTD leads through the first nine minutes of the game. A 6-0 gap was tied, an 11-5 lead was erased, and then a 13-11 edge flipped to the home team's first lead of the game 6-1 run. Junior Jason Orta (Crandall, Texas) sank a trey to make it 17-all, and Crawford dialed a three on the next play to give the Trailblazers their final lead of the stanza. The Tigers scored the next six points and Crawford's other three of the game leveled the score at 23 with two minutes left in the frame. After that juncture until the break, Central Christian led the rest of the way with a pair of three-pointers and eight of the final 10 points.
 
The 31-25 halftime deficit more than doubled quickly in the first two minutes of the second half, as the Tigers etched eight points in a row behind a pair of trifectas and grabbed their largest lead of the game 14 points (39-25). Crawford got the Trailblazers off the deck with the first points of the half after 2:20 minutes without a score. He had an inside basket and then got a three-point play the old fashion way to slice the deficit to single digits with 16:26 to go. Central Christian answered with a positive scoring span that pushed the lead back to 12 a few minutes later.
 
A three-pointer by senior Jayden Johnson-Blair (Dallas, Texas) and four points by his teammate in the back court Vernon Johnson (DeSoto, Texas) would highlight a nine-point scoring streak to cut the score to 44-41. Crawford had the other field goal and followed with a steal that found Johnson's layup for the final score in that surge.
 
The offense stalled for the Trailblazers briefly, as Central Christian extended its advantage to eight points with 8:43 left. The visitors took control the rest of the way through the end of regulation by outscoring the Tigers 29-12. Central Christian only got two field goals in that span, once at 5:57 and the final time with 1:50 minutes left.
 
The initial eight-point gap evaporated thanks to eight straight points by UNTD started by a pair of free throws by senior Ashton Howard (Cedar Hill, Texas). Crawford earned and converted a three-point play, Howard added a layup, and Johnson nailed a trifecta to make it 56-all. Sides exchanged baskets with Johnson-Blair making the game even a final time and propelling the Trailblazers on top for good with a layup to make the score 62-60. Orta followed with a three to make it a two-possession game. He added his third trifecta of the game, and it provided a key blow matching the team's largest lead of the game at seven points (69-62). Orta (8) and Johnson-Blair (5) provided 13 of the team's final 17 points in the 17-10 scoring stretch that resulted in UNT Dallas prevailing. The Tigers fought to get the game to four points (72-68) with 28 seconds left, but Orta hit both free throws and Johnson-Blair had a steal lead to another Trailblazer possession and added a free throw of his own to post the final score.
 
Behind Crawford's big game was another pair of season-best performances from Johnson-Blair with 15 points and Orta with 11. Johnson-Blair was a point shy of his career-best from 2023-24 against Wayland Baptist (2/22/24) and Orta was two away from tying his personal-best last season at Mid-American Christian (2/17/24). Johnson-Blair was only player on either side to play all 40 minutes and added four rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Orta matched his personal-most three made trifectas.
 
Johnson completed a quartet of double-digit scorers with 10 points dished a season-high six assists. Howard smacked four blocks and added eight points. The team made a season-high eight three-pointers and tied a season-high six blocks. The 11 steals were the first double-digit total in that category since the conference opener at Mid-America Christian which to that point the team had eclipsed the first four games.
 
Central Christian was led by Chris Whitten with 21 points, while Omari Maulana and Jaeden Whitten contributed 15 and 13 points, respectively. Andre Shelby brought down 10 rebounds. The Tigers also did heavy scoring from the free throw line with an 11-for-15 overall effort and 11-for-13 in the second half. Many came down the stretch keeping the game tight.
 
The Trailblazers split on the week after playing two teams in the national polls, falling in overtime to No. 11 Langston and defeating a Central Christian team that is receiving votes. The Tigers fell at home (5-1) for the first time on the season.
 
UNT Dallas returns home after finals week to play Nelson on December 14 at Ellis Davis Field House. Tip-off is at 4:00 p.m.