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UNT Dallas

Photo Recap vs. OLLU 1.22.26
67
Our Lady of the Lake OUR LADY 9-9, 8-4
72
Winner UNT Dallas UNT DALL 7-10, 5-7
Our Lady of the Lake OUR LADY
9-9, 8-4
67
Final
72
UNT Dallas UNT DALL
7-10, 5-7
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Our Lady of the Lake OUR LADY 34 33 67
UNT Dallas UNT DALL 31 41 72

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | nathanyacovissi

UNT Dallas Men's Basketball Punch Back to Defeat Saints

CEDAR HILL, Texas – University of North Texas at Dallas men's basketball grabbed its biggest win of the season and overcame a tough start to defeat Our Lady of the Lake University, 72-67, at Trinity Leadership Public School on Thursday night. It was a team-wide effort that endured a hot-shooting start for the Saints and willed its way back to a single-digit deficit late in the first half. The Trailblazers 9-0 run later in the second half gave them control heading into the final part of the game. A three-pointer by OLLU's Barack Holland slashed the margin to three. Each side turned the ball over and Dreyon Thornton (Chicago, Ill.) sealed the win at the free throw line with 0.9 seconds left.
 
Assistant Coach Matthew Johnson stated after the game that it took his guys "belief" in one another to make this happen.
 
Thornton's brother Demaryon matched a personal-best four three-pointers and made that mark for the first time all season. Greg Crawford (Houston, Texas) scored his highest point total in conference with 24 points, going 7-of-12 from the field, and 9-for-11 at the free throw line. DaRyan Williams (Austin, Texas) tied a single-game record with Ashton Howard with six blocked shots to go with eight points. Dre. Thornton scored 10 points and dished five assists. Eli Taylor (Elizabeth N.J.) had the most assists by an individual Trailblazer this season with eight.


 
The Trailblazers drained a season-high nine three-pointers and eclipsed 20 assists for the third time overall – all in 2026. It was one off the season-high mark. This was the best game for the Trailblazers at protecting the ball with a season-low 10 turnovers.
 
The victory pushed UNT Dallas to 7-10 overall and 6-7 in RRAC play. The Trailblazers have won four-of-six games since the turn of the calendar year in 2026. They are 5-2 at the friendly confines, including 4-2 at Trinity Leadership. Our Lady of the Lake falls to 9-9 overall and 8-5 in the conference, as it sits in fourth place in the RRAC Standings and is the highest quality win thus far in the league for UNTD.
 
Starting the second round of matchups in league play, the Trailblazers seemed to be heading towards a familiar result that saw OLLU win by 30 points (108-78) in San Antonio over a month ago. Even with more roster dept on the Trailblazers side, it was a 9-2 start for Our Lady of the Lake during the first three minutes. Both sides struggled for much consistency offensively over the next five minutes. The Saints surged to a double-digit lead powered by seven straight points that were bookend by Barack Holland layups. DJ Smith nailed a trey in between and with 11:45 left in the first it was 21-8.


 
Making his season debut for UNT Dallas was Anthony Hunter (Fort Worth, Texas) and he notched all five of his points in the first few minutes on the floor. A triple helped the Trailblazers pull within 10 points. The Saints answered and at the midway juncture were up by their largest lead of 15 (26-11).
 
After a UNTD timeout, the guys in the home jerseys kept playing inspired ball and were able to whittle the deficit. Crawford had two free throws and a pair of OLLU turnovers set up Dre. Thornton for a three-pointer to make it a 10-point gap. After a basket by the Saints, Thornton's senior brother buried a trifecta at 6:18 to slash the deficit to single digits. A few plays later, Dre. Thornton dished a dime to Crawford and then the freshman Drey came up with a trey to pull the Trailblazers within four points (28-24).
 
The Trailblazers defense locked down OLLU's hot streak, limiting it to two points for five minutes and resulting in a 13-2 run. The Saints countered with a basket by Holland, but Williams and Crawford scored the next five points to bridge the gap to one, as Crawford converted on an old-fashioned three-point play. The Trailblazers were unable to gain their first lead of the game but were satisfied with clawing back in after being punched down earlier in the frame. UNT Dallas trailed 34-31 at intermission.
 
Both sides shot north of 50 percent in the second stanza and made three of its four shot attempts to start the half. Crawford scored UNTD's five points to start the half and keep the team within a point each time. A layup by Dre. Thornton kept the score within one and his brother again factored in with a trifecta that knotted the score at 40 and was the first time the Trailblazers were not behind in the game. Layups by Crawford and Williams lifted them on top for the first time a few plays later and saw UNTD up by the time of the first media timeout.
 
From 15:02 to 11:51, Our Lady of the Lake rattled off eight straight points to reclaim the lead 49-45. A jump shot by Keylyn Sanders (Paris, Texas) ended the Trailblazers drought at 11:17 and an offensive putback by Crawford leveled the scoreboard a few plays later. The Trailblazers forced a turnover with Dre. Thornton getting the steal and Taylor dishing an assist to Crawford for the go-ahead basket with nine minutes remaining. The teams continued trading baskets for the next three minutes.
 
With seven and a half minutes remaining, the Trailblazers made their game-changing move with Sanders subbing in and immediately contributing on a breakaway layup that Taylor found him on. Dre. Thornton picked steal that led to his brother sinking a trey. Williams picked up his record-tying block and Dem. Thorton came up with the rebound and threw a dime to Sanders for a layup to expand the lead to seven with 6:20 left. Thornton snatched another steal and Williams got a layup to cap the nine-point streak with Taylor distributing the assist.
 
Taylor found a triple to push the Trailblazers lead to the largest of the game at 10 (65-55) beneath the five-minute mark. Crawford, who had 15 second half points, went two-for-two at the free throw line to match the double-digit margin.
 
The Saints did not go quietly, as a pair of three-pointers highlighted a 10-3 run over a 2:58 minute span.
 
Senior Thornton broke his season-high in made three-pointers to log 12 points and had a crucial make to extend the lead to three possessions with a minute and a half left. After Santiago Ochoa got an offensive rebound to lead to a second chance basket, the Trailblazers turned the ball over in the back court and Holland quickly drained a trey on the left-hand side to nip the deficit to three (70-67) with 47 seconds left. Another turnover for the Trailblazers led to an ominous feeling. However, the Saints also committed a turnover that led to UNTD capturing the final possession. Dre. Thornton was fouled and the two free throws eliminated a game-tying shot with virtually no time left.
 
Besides these free throws with less than a second on the clock, Crawford attempted the remaining Trailblazer free throws across 39:99.1 minutes.
 
UNTD shot 44.1 percent overall (26-59), made nine treys, and was 11-for-13 at the free throw line, including 6-for-6 in the second half. The Trailblazers picked nine steals led by Dre. Thornton's three. The Trailblazers scored 11 points off turnovers in each half and held a 22-9 edge. They earned a 35-21 advantage on bench points, with Crawford powering most from his game-high.
 
The previous single-game record for blocks was by Howard against Texas Wesleyan on January 6, 2025. Taylor's eight assists were one shy of the single-game mark that has been achieved three times in the previous two seasons. 20 team assists were one short of a season-high accomplished twice.
 
The Saints posted a 43.3 field goal percentage and were 6-of-18 from three. They made all nine free throws, including eight-for-eight in the second half. Ochoa had 22 points behind 9-of-12 shooting and was perfect with two three-pointers and free throws. He grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. Holland had 12 points, and Kenyon Elliott tossed in 10. The Saints held advantages in second chance points (17-14), points in the paint (36-28), and fast break points (7-2).
 
UNT Dallas is off for a week. Inclement weather has forced this Saturday's game to be postponed against Texas A&M-San Antonio and will be rescheduled at a later date. The Trailblazers head to North American and Xavier University of Louisiana on January 29 and 31.
 
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