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UNT Dallas

Photo Recap at Huston-Tollotson
Photo Courtesy of Jared Horn
68
North Texas-Dallas UNTD 1-2
75
Winner Huston-Tillotson HT 4-2
North Texas-Dallas UNTD
1-2
68
Final
75
Huston-Tillotson HT
4-2
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
North Texas-Dallas UNTD 32 36 68
Huston-Tillotson HT 40 35 75

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | nathanyacovissi

Crawford Records First 20-20 performance for Trailblazers on Saturday

AUSTIN, Texas – University of North Texas at Dallas men's basketball dropped a 75-68 result at Huston-Tillotson on Saturday afternoon. Greg Crawford (Houston, Texas) continued his impressive start to the season with a game-high 22 points and a personal-best 20 rebounds. Crawford is the first UNTD men's basketball player to achieve a 20-point, 20-rebound game and he broke the single-game record for rebounds that was previously 17 by Deandre Robinson (vs. Langston on 2/12/22).


 
The Trailblazers (1-3) could not overcome a woeful shooting performance from the floor that included 34 percent (22-64) overall, 6-of-24 (25 percent) from three-point territory, and 18-for-31 (58.1 percent) at the free throw line. Despite their best efforts to keep the game in single-digits, which included slashing a second half deficit to four points (65-61) with 3:05 minutes left on a trey by Keylyn Sanders (Paris, Texas) who made his season debut.
 
Huston-Tillotson (4-2) countered with consecutive three-pointers by Blake Fisher and Caleb Campbell to push the gap to 10 (71-61) with under two minutes to play.
 
A triple by UNTD's Demaryon Thornton (Chicago, Ill.) and free throw in two tries by Crawford shrunk the margin to six with 1:02 remaining, but the Rams kept it there to see out the win.
 
The Trailblazers started out fast with a trey by Keelan Russell (Dallas, Texas), who made his first start. Crawford followed with a tip-in to give the guests a 5-0 lead through a minute and a half. It was a tightly contested first half, as the Trailblazers led until right before the midway juncture of the frame. A three by Fisher put the Rams in front for the first time at 18-16. Down five, Crawford drilled a rare trifecta to make it a two-point difference (21-19) a minute later. The first ended with Huston-Tillotson going on a 12-6 run, which included an 8-0 surge to grow the lead the largest of the game by either side at that point by nine (35-26). The Rams closed on an old-fashioned three-point play to lead 40-32 at intermission.
Crawford was already drawing attention with 14 points and 11 rebounds in 16 minutes.
 
The Trailblazers never recovered the lead in the contest, although they battled hard throughout the final 20 minutes. UNTD scored four points on the first two possessions as JT Curry (Baton Rouge, La.) scored a jumper assisted by Thornton. Crawford forced a steal on the next play and found Thornton on the fastbreak to slice the deficit in half to four. A Curry layup and Sanders jumper four and minutes into the stanza narrowed the game to a single possession each time. Three points was the closest the game was, as a minute later Sedric Curry Jr. (Baton Rouge, La.) had a jumper on an assist from Thornton to make it 48-45 deficit. A 9-1 run over the next four minutes ballooned the gap to 11 points (57-46), which was the largest of the game. UNTD worked the score down to two possession a few times, but the greatest push was a three by DaRyan Williams (Austin, Texas) followed by two Russell free throws, and then another three by Sanders to make it a four-point mentioned above.
 
Crawford has led the team in scoring all three games this campaign, surpassing 20 points each time. The graduate student's career rebounding game was fueled by 14 offensive rebounds. He added four assists and season-high three steals. Crawford is closing in on 400 career points in his second season with the Trailblazers, as he now has 395.
 
Curry Jr. was the next highest scorer with nine points, while Thornton and Williams each had eight. Russell, Curry, and Sanders chipped in seven points among the trio. Williams hauled down nine boards, while Thornton dished five assists.
 
The Trailblazers were a rebound shy of matching the record for a game with 51. They outdid Huston-Tillotson by 20 on the glass. UNTD's record was set against Science & Arts on January 20, 2022.
 
UNTD outscored the Rams 15-6 on second chance points. The home team held a 38-26 edge on points in the paint, 9-2 edge on fastbreak points, and 15-13 on points off turnovers. 11 came for HT in the opening 20 minutes. The Trailblazers committed nine turnovers in the first half and 13 for the game compared to nine by the Rams.
 
Huston-Tillotson was led by Jaylen Streeter with 14 points, while Fisher followed with 13, and Kemondreon Cansler tossed 11. The Rams were 45.9 percent (28-61) from the field, with 5-of-21 from deep, and 14-for-19 at the free throw line.
 
UNT Dallas closes out its non-conference slate with a rescheduled game at Paul Quinn on Monday.
 
 
 
 
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