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UNTDMBB vs. OPSU
59
Winner Oklahoma Panhandle State OKLAHOMA 9-14, 7-12
55
UNT Dallas UNT DALL 10-12, 7-12
Winner
Oklahoma Panhandle State OKLAHOMA
9-14, 7-12
59
Final
55
UNT Dallas UNT DALL
10-12, 7-12
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Oklahoma Panhandle State OKLAHOMA 28 31 59
UNT Dallas UNT DALL 30 25 55

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | nathanyacovissi

Defensive Struggle goes Aggies Way in Tough Loss for UNTD Men's Basketball

DALLAS, Texas – University of North Texas at Dallas men's basketball was on the short end of a defensive struggle that took place on Saturday afternoon at Ellis Davis Field House against Oklahoma Panhandle State with a 59-55 result. With teams trading leads 11-of-12 times in the opening half and tying three more times during that span, the Aggies gained the only lead change in the second half and were able to hang on late thanks to an eventual 15 blocked shots on UNTD.
 
The Trailblazers held a narrow lead at intermission, 30-28, and were led by junior Greg Crawford (Houston, Texas) with half of his game-high 20 points. The defense had six blocks, led by Sooner Athletic Conference top performer Ashton Howard (Cedar Hill, Texas) with four. The senior has 48 on the campaign to continue his record-setting year with the program.
 
Unfortunately, Oklahoma Panhandle State is the top team in the league for blocked shots with 130 and features four individuals in the top 10. UNTD ranks second with 96 and both sides protected the paint well in this contest. The Trailblazers held a narrow edge, 32-30 but could not get the key baskets to fall when needed.
 
The Aggies grabbed their final lead of the game with seven and a half minutes left on a layup by Amaree Brown. UNTD had last scored on a free throw by junior Daniel Sohn (Aledo, Texas) a minute earlier and went scoreless until a layup by senior Vernon Johnson (DeSoto, Texas) with just under three minutes in regulation. Luckily, the Trailblazers had seen a three-point margin flip in that duration, as his basket made it a 50-49 score. Brown made another layup to push the lead back to three and the Trailblazers missed on two inside shot opportunities. After an empty possession, the Trailblazers went inside again to be blocked a ninth time in the frame. Five came from Abdulh Diaby and three from Brown.
 
With a little over a minute remaining, the Trailblazers defense worked to get a loose ball and unfortunately was just out of reach for a successful turnover. The Aggies retained possession and found Raul Nunez for a made three-pointer that doubled the lead late in the shot clock and was a crucial basket. Crawford was fouled on the next play and made two free throws to cut the deficit to four points (55-51). The Aggies split at the line, but UNTD turned the ball over on the next chance to cut into a five-point gap. The Aggies were able to convert the next two free throws and essentially sealed the win. Howard got a dunk and Crawford put-in a layup to complete the scoring total.
 
It was a strong start for the Trailblazers, scoring nine of the opening 11 points. Howard tossed in four points, while Johnson drilled a trey to highlight the run.
 
After the Aggies worked their way back to going up by a point on a made triple from Jerry Abushanab (12-11), the game was back-and-forth several times until halftime. Neither side went up more than four points, with the Aggies holding that margin last with 5:14 minutes left in the stanza. Crawford made two free throws and senior Demaryon Thornton (Chicago, Ill.) nailed a go-ahead trey for a 24-23 lead and 4:10 remaining.
 
Leads traded hands multiple times on made baskets and Crawford gave UNTD the final push of the first with the last four points. Johnson had a block that went to senior Jayden Johnson-Blair (Dallas, Texas), who dished an assist to Crawford on the go-ahead dunk with just over 30 seconds to make it 30-28.
 
That play carried some momentum at the start of the second half, as two free throws by Crawford and a layup on the fastbreak by Johnson-Blair opened a six-point lead. OPSU got a three by Brown to slice the deficit in half and another basket by the guests made it 34-33 around two and a half minutes in. The Trailblazers put together their longest scoring streak of the stanza, as Crawford got an offensive tip-in, Howard was found on a fastbreak by Johnson for the dunk, and then he added a layup to cap their largest lead of the game, 40-33.
 
Brown struck back with a timely three and another basket made it a two-point game. Johnson and Crawford had good layups to carry the team to a 46-40 edge around the midway juncture. The Aggies methodically worked past the slight edge and were able to defensively outdo the Trailblazers the rest of the way, which resulted in a 19-9 run for over 10 minutes.
 
Crawford continued his double-digit scoring streak to 22 games and just missed his 14th double-double with nine rebounds. He was 6-for-7 at the charity stripe. Howard followed with 12 points and had six rebounds and was a perfect 4-for-4 at the line. Johnson rounded out the trio of double-digit scorers with 11 points and also had six boards. All seven players scored for UNTD, but the top trio mentioned above had the majority of points, with a combined 12 points coming from the rest.
 
The Trailblazers shot 31.3 percent (20-64) from the floor and 4-of-17 from three. They were 11-for-14 at the line and held a 41-37 advantage on the glass. The Trailblazers did hold a 14-4 edge on second chance points and 15-8 edge on points off turnovers. This included a 10-0 difference in the opening half.
 
Diaby led the Aggies with 16 points, while Brown had 13, and Mike Carter chipped in 10. The latter pair tied for a team-high eight rebounds and each had three blocks. Diaby swatted six. The team shot 41.2 percent from the field with one more made field goal (21), three-pointer (5), and free throw (12) than UNTD that provided the four-point difference.
 
UNT Dallas dropped to 10-12 overall and 7-12 in SAC play. OPSU improved to 9-14 and tied UNTD with identical conference records. The win for the Aggies gave them the regular season sweep and their first-ever wins against the program.
 
Currently, the teams are tied for eighth in the SAC standings and a tiebreaker favors OPSU for the final conference tournament spot. The Trailblazers will look to bounce back and go strong these final five games that should come down to the wire for the remaining seeds.
 
UNT Dallas heads on a three-game road stretch starting with No. 18 Langston on Thursday at 8:00 p.m. Following that will be a crucial game at Central Christian on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.
 
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