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UNT Dallas

Photo Recap MBB vs. TAMUSA
59
Texas A&M University- San Antonio TEXAS A& 7-14, 6-9
81
Winner UNT Dallas UNT DALL 8-11, 7-8
Texas A&M University- San Antonio TEXAS A&
7-14, 6-9
59
Final
81
UNT Dallas UNT DALL
8-11, 7-8
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Texas A&M University- San Antonio TEXAS A& 29 30 59
UNT Dallas UNT DALL 37 44 81

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | nathanyacovissi

Many Contributions for Trailblazers who look to Build Momentum

CEDAR HILL, Texas – A well-balanced performance from the University of North Texas at Dallas men's basketball team helped the team lead wire-to-wire in an 81-59 victory over Texas A&M-San Antonio on Monday night at Trinity Leadership Public School.
 
An 18-1 scoring run in the middle of the second half propelled the Trailblazers away to a double-digit advantage. They never trailed in the game and were able to play everyone in their most-complete game of the season.
 
UNT Dallas improved to .500 for the first time in the Red River Athletic Conference with an 8-8 record and are 9-11 overall. The Jaguars fell to 7-15 overall and 6-10 in conference play, as they remain in ninth place.
 
The Trailblazers tallied a season-best 33 field goals and eclipsed 30 makes for the third time overall on the campaign. UNTD is 3-0 in these contests, and all have come in 2026 with the previous on back-to-back wins to start the new calendar against Southwest and Texas College. The team improved to 6-2 at home and 5-2 at Trinity Leadership, as the team appears to be gelling more at the friendly confines. UNT Dallas was one made three-pointer off matching the season-high mark of nine and has posted eight on three occasions.
 
Demaryon Thornton (Chicago, Ill.) was a big part in that number of trifectas with three total and had a team-high 14 points. Sedric Curry Jr. (Baton Rouge, La.) registered his third double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds. He also notched one in these team's first meeting in San Antonio.
 
Eli Taylor (Elizabeth, N.J.) scored a season-high 11 points thanks to three triples and dished three assists. Dreyon Thornton (Chicago, Ill.) and Orion Virden (Pine Bluff, Ark.) each had 10 points to give the Trailblazers a quintet of double-digit scorers. It was a season-best for Virden in his third game of the year.
 
Greg Crawford (Houston, Texas) snatched a game-high 14 rebounds with 10 on the defensive end. He also dished a season-high five assists to lead the team and tied the team-lead in steals with two. Crawford eclipsed 200 rebounds for the season and has logged at least five in every contest. He has 27 over the past two games and is now averaging 10.5 overall.
 
Crawford's 48 games as a Trailblazer have seen him garner 481 boards and 820 points.
 


UNT Dallas shot 45.8 percent overall and made four three-pointers in each frame. The team was off at the free throw line with a 7-for-15 clip, but was one of the lone blemishes of an otherwise outstanding display. The Trailblazers totaled 46 rebounds, 20 assists (one shy of tying a season-high twice), and eight steals. This is the fourth time on the campaign the team has eclipsed 20 dimes. The Trailblazers also protected the ball, turning it over 13 times. That ties third-lowest on the year. The lowest mark was 10 against Our Lady of the Lake on January 22 at home.
 
The Trailblazers dominated in several categories including: points off turnovers (16-12), second chance points (15-5), points in paint (42-20), and fast break points (14-2). Each disparity in these statistical groups highlighted a thrilling second half that stamped a sign of why this team is not only showing strong results but is giving crowds entertainment night-in and night-out.
 
TAMUSA was led by Dezmon Dudley with 13 points and Xzavier Brown with 11. The team shot 30.4 percent (17-56) from the field and made four three-pointers. The Jaguars were strong at the line with a 21-for-25 result. The team had 35 rebounds, 12 assists, 15 turnovers, and seven steals.
 
The first three minutes saw the Trailblazers post three baskets from Taylor, Demaryon Thornton and Curry Jr. The home team's defense limited TAMUSA to a pair of free throws 3:01 into the game and it was a steal that led to the visiting side's first field goal at 16:31. After each side chimed in with a triple, Thornton hit his second in a row to open a five-point gap. The Trailblazers managed to lead by as many as six (16-10) through the first eight minutes.
 
The Jaguars tallied two jumpers by Antwone Gonzales to cut the deficit to a pair of points again. With eight and a half minutes remaining, the margin was a point (19-18), but Virdon made a jumper and two three-pointers back-to-back by Taylor and the returning senior Virdon extended the lead to multiple possessions.
 
Each side was in a drought for several minutes late in the opening half, as Curry Jr. scored two layups in a row for UNTD. Dreyon Thornton showed off his speed going coast-to-coast on a layup to open the largest lead of the game at the time at nine (33-24) with two and a half before intermission. The lead never grew higher until the next stanza, as a late layup by Demaryon Thornton from his brother Dreyon Thornton on the assist wrapped up a 37-29 opening half.
 
Three minutes to start the second half saw the Jaguars fighting back to come within four points, but a steal and layup by Drey. Thornton ignited a small 9-1 surge for the home team. His brother buried his third trifecta and the younger freshman sibling took down a pair of free throws to make it a double-digit lead for the first time (44-34). Crawford hustled aggressively for a fastbreak basket after a TAMUSA miss and Dem. Thornton rebound for the assist to push the lead to 12.
 
The Jaguars crept back with the deficit shrinking to six (48-42) with 13:15 remaining in the game. Drey. Thornton and Virden had quick baskets to send the lead back to double figures and a pair of free throws by Crawford at 11:49 followed by a layup by DaRyan Williams (Austin, Texas) with 10:55 left reflected the largest UNTD to juncture at 14 (56-42).
 
Anthony Hunter (Fort Worth, Texas) got into the action with consecutive layups and Curry Jr. followed with a fastbreak layup to boost the Trailblazers ahead by 19 points (62-43). This was the midst of the major run listed in the lead that rose UNTD's advantage to as many as 23 points with 7:09 left. Hunter and Curry Jr. were good on two more layups. A&M-San Antonio was held without a field goal from 13:16 to 5:59. Within that span were five free throws and the first was part of a three-point play the old fashioned way back at 13:16. It was an even greater testament to the Trailblazers resilience since that three-point play slice the gap to six.
 
It was the tightest part of the game the rest of the night, as the lead stretched to as many as 26 points and remained above the 20-point plateau for the last eight and a half minutes. The only exception was when a triple by TAMUSA brought the margin to 19 (2:11), but Brooks Anderson (Waco, Texas) answered with a trey 21 seconds later to go back over.
 
All 13 players available tonight came into the game and 10 players scored at least one field goal.
 
UNT Dallas looks to build on this momentum with two big matchups at home on the remainder of this week's triple-header. The Trailblazers face first-place LSU-Shreveport on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and Texas A&M-Texarkana on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.


 
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