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UNT Dallas

Photo Recap at USW 1.3
80
Winner UNT Dallas UNTD 5-9, 2-6
60
Southwest USW 3-9, 2-6
Winner
UNT Dallas UNTD
5-9, 2-6
80
Final
60
Southwest USW
3-9, 2-6
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
UNT Dallas UNTD 45 35 80
Southwest USW 28 32 60

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | nathanyacovissi

Hot Shooting lifts Trailblazers to Widest Margin Win in RRAC

HOBBS, N.M. – New year, new team was on full display Saturday for the University of North Texas at Dallas men's basketball team, as it scored a season-high in regulation and used a strong first half to defeat University of the Southwest 80-60 at the Jack & Mabel Maddox Student Life Center.
 
The Trailblazers shot their best total from the field this season at 50 percent and made their highest total field goals with 30. An 18-of-32 (56.3 percent) first half field goal result that included 5-of-10 from three allowed the team to go up 45-28 by intermission. The torrid UNTD shooting combined with Southwest going 11-of-37 (29.7 percent) was the perfect storm to open the Trailblazers largest margin for victory this campaign.
 
UNT Dallas grabs its first road victory and ends the three-game stretch away from DFW with a double-digits win after dropping the first two in similar fashion. The Trailblazers improved to 4-8 on the campaign and 3-5 in conference play. The Mustangs fell a fourth time in a row and are 4-10 overall and 1-7 in conference play.
 
The victory swept the season series for the Trailblazers and both times they scored above 80 points was against Southwest. The first meeting between these teams went overtime, however.
 
Two players headlined a balanced scoring attack with DaRyan Williams (Austin, Texas) and Sedric Curry Jr. (Baton Rouge, La.) tying the team lead with 14 points each. The tandem notched double-doubles with Williams tying a career-high 12 rebounds a third time on the season. Williams also had 12 boards against Southwest at home (11/22/25) and at Texas A&M-Texarkana (12/18/25), which were part of his other double-doubles. He dished a personal-best five assists.
 
Curry, Jr. matched a personal-high 10 rebounds and went 6-for-8 at the free throw line. The forward was a huge part of the opening stanza lead with 11 points.
 
Dreyon Thornton (Chicago, Ill.) completed a trio of double-digit scorers with 10 points to go with a career-high seven rebounds. Thornton also claimed a team-high and personal-most seven dimes.
 
His brother Demaryon Thornton (Chicago, Ill.) chipped in eight points with 2-of-3 from downtown. Keylyn Sanders (Paris, Texas) also tallied eight points with a pair of trifectas helping the cause. Brooks Anderson (Waco, Texas) sank both his three-pointers to reflect UNTD with a trio that contributed to all-but one of the seven three-pointers for the game.
 
Greg Crawford (Houston, Texas) scored eight points, marking the second time in 40 UNTD games he failed to reach double figures. Crawford added six rebounds and three assists.
 
The Trailblazers went 13-for-21 at the free throw line, secured 45 rebounds, a season-high 21 assists, four blocks, nine steals, and committed 17 turnovers. They had a 26-13 edge on points from the bench, and slight advantages on points off turnovers (12-11) and points in paint (32-30).
 
Southwest held an 18-5 advantage on second chance points, which was largely due to 13-4 in the opening 20 minutes and one of the few areas the Mustangs held strong on during that span.
 
Ejay Scroggins was the only USW player in double figures and he led all players with 20 points thanks to 7-of-18 shooting. Scroggins grabbed a team-high nine rebounds and added three assists, a block, and a steal.
 
The Mustangs shot 32.4 percent (22-68) with four three-pointers and were 12-for-25 at the free throw line. They notched 31 points, 12 assists, committed 11 turnovers, three blocks, and six steals.
 
Southwest got off to a quick start with four points in under two minutes. It was the only lead for the home team, as the Thorton brothers teamed up with the next five points that were part of a 12-0 run in two minutes. Dreyon Thornton got the Trailblazers on the scoreboard and Demaryon Thornton drilled a trifecta to propel UNTD ahead for the remainder of the game. Crawford added a jumper and Williams scored the next two baskets. A free throw by Curry Jr. capped the Trailblazers' run through over four minutes.
 
Southwest cut into the margin by half with 14:18 left, but the Trailblazers pushed back with nine points in a row without a Southwest answer. Keelan Russell (Dallas, Texas) sparked the surge with a jumper, while JT Curry (Baton Rouge, La.) picked a steal and layup to make it a 16-8 lead. Sanders nailed a trey at 11:45 to open a double-digit lead and Curry Jr. capped run with a layup and 10:44 remaining in the first. The next several minutes saw UNTD continue its fast pace and four minutes later the scoreboard spread to 20 points (37-17) with six left. Anderson nailed a trey, Curry Jr. and Curry combined for six, and Dreyon Thorton placed an exclamation on the largest lead of the half with a layup. The entire run was 21-9 for the Trailblazers from 11:45 to 5:59. This surge carried UNT Dallas into the break with a double-digit lead.
 
Baskets by Williams and Russell in the first 5:15 minutes helped the Trailblazers keep the early momentum and balloon the advantage back to 20 points on those field goals in the second half. The Mustangs used nine straight points to pull back within 11 points (54-43) with barely under 13 minutes to play. Scroggins was up to the heavy lifting with six points following a triple by Jayvian Lawson that started the home surge.
 
UNTD answered back with a pair of free throws by Curry Jr., and Crawford bookending a Williams layup. From the midway juncture until seven and a half minutes, Southwest was hanging around and cut the deficit to 12 points (62-50). Sanders hit his other three-pointer of the game to make it a 15-point lead. Scroggins kept splitting at the free throw line for USW's best threat, but a three-point play by Williams, layup by Crawford, and old fashioned three-point play by Dreyon Thornton reached the lead to the greatest margin of 21 points (73-52) with 5:18 remaining. A steal by Grant Ekakitie (Duncanville, Texas) led to a Julius Morris (Houston, Texas) layup and a 25-point lead that tied the largest of the game for the Trailblazers. The remainder of the game from Thorton's aforementioned basket saw UNTD hold a marginable advantage by at least 20 and was the largest spread of victory this season overall and against a Red River Athletic Conference team.
 
11 of the teams 12 players in the box score scored at least one field goal and were in the scoring column.
 
 
UNT Dallas returns to Trinity Leadership Public School for a pair of Red River Athletic Conference games on January 8 and 10. The Trailblazers host Texas College on the 8th around 7:30 p.m. and Jarvis Christian on the 10th around 3:00 p.m.
 
 
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