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UNT Dallas

Photo Recap MBB at Texas College
71
UNT Dallas UNT DALL 10-14, 9-10
89
Winner Texas College TEXAS CO 5-20, 3-16
UNT Dallas UNT DALL
10-14, 9-10
71
Final
89
Texas College TEXAS CO
5-20, 3-16
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
UNT Dallas UNT DALL 31 40 71
Texas College TEXAS CO 49 40 89

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | nathanyacovissi

Taylor and Sanders record Season-Highs at Texas College

TYLER, Texas – It was a tough afternoon for University of North Texas at Dallas men's basketball, as a sharp-shooting Texas College team won 89-71 on Saturday. The Trailblazers battled early but were behind 49-31 at halftime and could not recover.
 
The setback drops UNT Dallas to 10-14 overall and 9-11 in conference play. The Trailblazers have clinched a spot in the Red River Athletic Conference in their first season joining the league. They currently are the sixth seed with final seeds to be determined at the completion of play a week from now.
 
Texas College improved to 5-20 overall and 4-16 in conference play with its second win on the week and fourth win at the friendly confines.
 
Eli Taylor (Elizabeth, N.J.) led the Trailblazers with a personal-best 17 points behind a 7-of-11 effort from the field. He also made half of his three-point attempts with a pair and added two assists and steals.
 
Keylyn Sanders (Paris, Texas) also claimed a season-high 14 points with a perfect 6-for-6 effort on the floor shooting. He scored all his points in the second half.
 
Orion Virden (Houston, Texas) eclipsed double figures for the third straight game with 13 points. He has combined for 44 points in this stretch and has reached double-digits in points four of the past five games.
 
Greg Crawford (Houston, Texas) chipped in seven points and a team-high seven rebounds. Dreyon Thornton (Chicago, Ill.) also had seven points.
 
The Trailblazers shot 48.1 percent (26-54) from the field with eight three-pointers and were 11-for-18 at the charity stripe. They won the battle on the boards, 23-21.
 
Texas College shot an incredible 57.7 percent (30-52) from the field and 10-of-18 from three-point range. The Steers went 19-for-22 at the free throw line.
 
UNT Dallas held an 11-10 advantage on second chance points, while the Steers garnered a 12-8 edge on points off turnovers and 32-30 edge on points in paint.
 
Wayne Green and Gelil Ward did most of the damage for the Steers with a combined 46 points. Ward was an astounding 6-of-8 from downtown. Shaysten Cornish had 16 points and Jason Roseberry Jr. added 10.
 
DaRyan Williams (Austin, Texas) put the Trailblazers on the board with two points in the opening seconds of the game. After Ward made a three, Williams scored a layup to flip the lead back for UNTD. Sides traded leads again as Taylor scored on a layup to make it 6-5.
 
A 10-0 run swung momentum to the Steers with a 15-6 lead through five minutes. Virdon came up with the next five points at the free throw line, which included three on a fouled three-point shot. Texas College responded with consecutive baskets and Virdon buried a trifecta to keep the score within five (19-14). The Steers had an answer each time and built their largest lead of the game at the time to 16 points (32-16) just under midway until halftime.
 
A three by Taylor cut the deficit to 13 points and the point guard for UNT Dallas showed off his career performance by scoring the next 10 points for the guests to keep the team within striking distance. A Crawford layup with 1:40 left brought the deficit to 11 points, which was as close as the game would be the rest of the way.
 
Texas College surged to an 18-point lead with the last seven points.
 
The Trailblazers did not give up in the last 20 minutes, as they erased a 22-point gap early in the half to pull within 16 (63-47) after the three-pointer by Virdon with over 14 minutes left. After the margin reached 20 moments later, UNTD got a pair of Crawford Free throws and a layup by Anthony Hunter (Fort Worth, Texas) to make it a 16-point game past the midway juncture.
 
UNT Dallas could not kick-start any deep runs and were able to finish even with the Steers scoring 40 points in the last 20 minutes. The largest lead for the Steers was 26 with 6:07 left in the game.  
 
UNT Dallas wraps up the regular season at Trinity Leadership Public School next week with home games against LSU-Alexandria (February 19 at 7:30 p.m.) and Louisiana Christian University (Feb. 21 at 3:00 p.m.).
 
The Trailblazers will recognize five players on "Senior Day" against LCU. This includes Crawford, Williams, Virdon, Demaryon Thornton (Chicago, Ill.), and Julius Morris (Houston, Texas).
 
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