North Texas Defeats Florida Atlantic
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DENTON, Texas (2/21/13) – The North Texas men’s basketball team outscored the Owls, 9-0 in overtime to secure a 66-57 victory against Florida Atlantic on Thursday night at the Super Pit.
The Mean Green improves to 11-18 and 6-12 in the Sun Belt, while the Owls fall to 12-17 and 7-11 in the conference. The last three meetings between the Mean Green and Owls have resulted in four overtime periods. North Texas swept the season series against the Owls with two overtime wins.
It was a closely-contested game featuring 11 ties and eight lead changes. In the final 10 minutes of regulation, there were six ties and four lead changes.
“It was a great defensive effort,” said North Texas head coach Tony Benford. “We did a great job testing their shooters. I’m really proud of our guys. We kept battling and held them scoreless in overtime.”
With the score tied at 57-57, Tony Mitchell and Greg Gantt both had the final shots for their teams but neither was able to convert, forcing overtime. Roger Franklin hit his fourth three-pointer of the season to start the 9-0 run in overtime. Mitchell, Franklin and Alzee Williams sealed
the win by converting free throws.
While Franklin hit one of NT’s two 3-pointers in the game, the North Texas defense held FAU to 21 percent shooting from behind the arc. FAU leads the Sun Belt Conference in 3-point shooting.
Franklin led all scorers with 20 points and was one rebound shy of a double-double with nine boards. He led the Mean Green with nine points in the first half. Jordan Williams followed with 14 points, going 7-for-8 from the free-throw line. As a team, North Texas scored 22 points from the charity stripe. FAU was just 5-for-9.
The two teams exchanged runs to start the second half. FAU led off the second period with an 8-0 run to take its largest lead of the game, 43-35. North Texas battled back, scoring 10 unanswered points to take a 45-43 lead off a Franklin layup.
The two teams would exchange the lead four times before Gantt gave FAU the lead, 57-55, with 55 seconds left. Gantt led FAU with 18 points. On NT’s ensuing possession, Jordan Williams was fouled and made both free throws to tie the game at 57 and force overtime.
North Texas jumped out to a 5-0 lead and controlled the majority of the first half. An Alzee Williams jumper put North Texas ahead 18-13 at 10:33 but FAU scored seven of the next nine points to tie the game at 20-20.
The Owls would tie the game three more times before taking its first lead of the game, 31-30, on a Gantt layup at 2:20. A Jordan Williams 3-pointer with five seconds left tied the game at the half.
North Texas returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 23 at South Alabama. Tip-off is 7 p.m.
