Skip To Main Content

UNT Dallas

UNT Dallas
Calendar
UNTDMBB at Nelson
Damaris Garcia
79
UNT Dallas UNT DALL 9-11, 6-11
94
Winner Nelson (Texas) NELSON ( 15-6, 13-4
UNT Dallas UNT DALL
9-11, 6-11
79
Final
94
Nelson (Texas) NELSON (
15-6, 13-4
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
UNT Dallas UNT DALL 42 37 79
Nelson (Texas) NELSON ( 55 39 94

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | nathanyacovissi

UNTD Men's Basketball cannot Slow Hot Shooting Lions on Saturday

WAXAHACHIE, Texas – University of North Texas at Dallas men's basketball could not slow down a hot-shooting Nelson team from beyond the three-point arc and fell 94-79 on Saturday at Sheaffer Center. The Trailblazers saw Nelson shoot 54.9 percent from the floor overall and 15-of-25 from downtown. This included a scorching 66.7 percent (18-27) overall and 71.4 percent (10-14) from deep.
 
That equaled a 55-42 halftime deficit, the most points allowed in a half by UNTD this season. The Trailblazers were outscored twice in the second half and worked the gap to single digits on a few trips, but timely shots pushed the gap back up and Nelson wore down the visitors.
 
The loss drops UNT Dallas to 9-11 overall and 6-11 in Sooner Athletic Conference play. Nelson remains tied in first place and goes to 15-6 overall and 13-4 in conference.
 
Nelson struck with a trio of three-pointers to start the game and jump out to a nine-point lead. A three by UNTD's senior Ashton Howard (Cedar Hill, Texas) got the guests on the board over three minutes in. The Trailblazers crawled back within one (13-12) thanks to three-pointers by seniors Demaryon Thornton (Chicago, Ill.) Jayden Johnson-Blair (Dallas, Texas), and a steal and dunk by junior Greg Crawford (Houston, Texas) over the next three minutes.
 
The Lions countered with eight points including back-to-back triples and had a nine-point lead again. The momentum carried into a 13-2 run and had Nelson up 14 around the midway juncture. The Trailblazers got a three by Johnson-Blair to pull within 11 points (30-19), but Nelson kept its astonishing shooting up with 10 straight points and held its greatest lead of the game by 21 with 7:53 left. The Trailblazers kept fighting and, on many occasions, came within 13 and held the line until intermission by that span.
 
After a quick Nelson basket to start the second stanza, junior Daniel Sohn (Aledo, Texas) sparked a 7-1 run. Thornton hit his second three of the game and junior Sergio McClain (Peoria, Ill.) polished a second chance opportunity on a pass from Johnson-Blair to make it a 10-point spread (59-49).
 
Two quick three-balls by Nelson countered the run back to 16. Once again, the Trailblazers put-together a scoring streak with seven straight this time to slice the margin to under 10 for the first time since 10:50 in the first half. The Lions responded with two points to break the double-digit plateau again, but a good offensive rebound tip-in by senior Darion Jones (Austin, Texas) and layup by Sohn pulled the Trailblazers within seven (67-60) with 13 minutes left.
 
That was as close as the score came, as another Nelson three-pointer came in time to send the gap back to double-digits. A three-point play the old-fashioned way made it a 75-61 score minutes later. Credit to a hungry UNTD team never folding as Crawford scored two the next two baskets and Sohn split at the free throw line to get the score within five (75-66) and 8:45 to play. The teams exchanged points and the final time the deficit was single-digits was when senior Vernon Johnson (DeSoto, Texas) made two free throws just over eight minutes to go. A timely counter with a three by the Lions opened a 14-point lead and UNTD rallied to 10 (82-72) on a Johnson jumper with 5:25 remaining, but the final trifecta for the Lions with four and a half minutes allowed a 14-point gap and helped the lead grow to as high as 19 and close out the win.
 
Crawford led the Trailblazers with 15 points, as he shot an efficient 6-of-7 from the field. He added two assists, steals, and had the team's only block. Johnson followed with 14 points and chipped in the second-most rebounds on the team with six, while dishing four assists and swiping a team-best three steals. Sohn posted 13 points to extend his double-digit scoring streak to seven games and eight-of-nine. Johnson-Blair rounded out the quartet of starters in double figures with 10 points and dished seven assists. It is the point guard's fourth game this season with at least seven dimes.
All eight regulars in the UNTD lineup scored at least five points, including 23 from the three-bench trio of Thornton, Jones, and McClain. That unit had at least seven points individually.
 
The Trailblazers shot 39.1 percent from the floor overall but were at 50 percent in the opening half. This included 6-of-13 from three-point territory. The team tied a season-high eight made three-pointers for the third time this season, but even that high of a clip was not a match for the torrid rate the Lions drained. Nelson also won the battle on the free throw line, making 23 out of 26, while the Trailblazers were 21-for-34.
 
UNTD did hold advantages in most categories, including rebounds (33-30), fewer turnovers committed (11-16), steals (9-5), points off turnovers (23-16), second chance points (14-0), and points in the paint (28-16).
 
CJ Hall led Nelson with 25 points, while Micah Clark recorded a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds. JJ Boling tossed in 14 points, and Justin Collins had 11. Seven Lions made a three, including Hall, Boling, and Preston Lawrence in the starting five going a combined 10-of-14 with at least three daggers.
 
UNT Dallas returns to Ellis Davis Field House for two games upcoming on January 30 versus the other top team in the league, Wayland Baptist, at 8:00 p.m. On February 1, the Trailblazers face Oklahoma Panhandle State at 4:00 p.m.
 
Print Friendly Version

Scoreboard