North Texas Loses At ULL 64-62
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LAFAYETTE, La. – North Texas rallied late and had two last second chances to win, but Louisiana-Lafayette escaped with a 64-62 win to end the Mean Green’s three-game winning streak at the Cajundome.
After trailing by 10 points with 4:32 left, North Texas went on a 10-2 run in the final four minutes to setup the potential game-winning heroics for a second straight game.
North Texas (12-9, 5-3) had the ball with 11.6 seconds left down 64-62. The Mean Green setup a 3-point attempt by Tony Mitchell, but it came up short and Roger Franklin’s last second shot at the buzzer on the rebound missed as well and the Cajuns hung on for the win.
Louisiana-Lafayette (11-11, 5-3) had a one-point lead at the break at 28-27 and Mitchell picked up his fourth foul early in the second half and the Cajuns were able to open up a seven-point lead at 43-36 with 14:38 left.
The Mean Green refused to go away, cutting the Cajun lead to 44-42. Louisiana-Lafayette then went on a 13-5 run to take a 10-point lead at 57-47 with seven minutes remaining in the game.
The Cajuns maintained a 10-point lead at 62-52 with 4:32 left when the Mean Green began their furious rally. Mitchell scored five straight points and his 3-pointer with 2:36 left made it a four-point lead at 62-58.
North Texas cut it down to two points on free throws from Franklin with 56 seconds remaining at 64-62 and got a stop on the Ragin Cajuns subsequent possession to setup the last second chances for Mitchell and Franklin.
The Ragin Cajuns opened up an early 7-2 in the first three minutes of the game. The Mean Green answered back as Mitchell tied the game up at 7-7 two minutes later, but Mitchell picked up his second foul with 13:55 left in the half and did not return in the half.
Mitchell’s absence didn’t stop Brandan Walton who filled the void in the first half with nine first half points to lead the Mean Green. North Texas, who trailed by as many as six in the first half, battled back to take their first lead of the game at 27-26 on a thunderous dunk by Alonzo Edwards with 30 seconds left in the half. It was the Mean Green’s only lead of the game.
Franklin notched his third straight double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds and Mitchell ended the night with 11 points and four rebounds but played only 17 minutes due to foul trouble.
The Mean Green is back in action on Saturday afternoon as they host Arkansas State at 12 p.m. at the Super Pit.
