Men's Basketball 11/1/2013 11:10:00 PM

Comeback brings North Texas 78-70 win over OCU

Stars lead in second half, trail by five points in final minute

Ivan Matip contributed five points towards OCU's 27 points off the bench Friday.

Box Score
DENTON, Texas – Oklahoma City University led at halftime before NCAA Division I North Texas rallied for a 78-70 men's basketball exhibition win Friday at The Super Pit.
Terry Johnson, a senior from Chicago, topped OCU with 15 points. Terrence Walker's layup gave the Stars their last lead of the game 37-35 with 19:22 left in the contest.
Johnson had a lay-in with two seconds left in the first period that put OCU up 35-34 at intermission. The Stars concluded their exhibition season after falling 73-48 to Missouri on Oct. 25 in Columbia, Mo.
OCU outrebounded North Texas 33-30 and held North Texas to 38.6 percent shooting from the floor. Dorion Gigger nailed a 3-pointer that sliced North Texas' advantage to 73-68 with 26 seconds left.
"Once again I'm very proud of our effort and our resolve to compete for 40 minutes," OCU coach Dionne Phelps said.
Chris Campbell, a freshman from San Antonio, supplied the Stars with 12 points, six rebounds and two steals off the bench. Walker, a senior from Jonesboro, Ark., piled up 10 points and five rebounds, and Jamaal Crayton, a senior from Augusta, Ga., added nine points, three rebounds and two assists for OCU.
Kaleb Smith, a senior from Choctaw, Okla., had eight points and a team-high seven rebounds, while Jamil Donovan, a sophomore from Oklahoma City, dished out four assists to pace the Stars.
OCU led by four twice – Walker scored in the paint for an early 4-0 lead, and Johnson's bucket put the Stars ahead 6-2.
In the second half, Terence Bonhomme canned a trey that cut the Stars' deficit to 58-56 with 6:37 to go.
Chris Jones capped an 12-3 North Texas run with a jumper at 3:03 remaining. North Texas forged its largest lead of the game at 70-59.
"This is why you play exhibition games," North Texas coach Tony Benford said. "We have some things we need to clean up, especially on the defensive end of the floor.
"You'll see a better effort on Monday night," Benford added, referring to Monday's North Texas exhibition against Southeastern Oklahoma State.
OCU makes its regular-season debut at 2 p.m. Saturday vs. Champion Baptist (Ark.) on homecoming at Abe Lemons Arena.

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