OKLAHOMA CITY - The Oklahoma City Men's Basketball team dropped its second straight game on Saturday evening falling to UNT-Dallas in a 17 point defeat.

TOP PERFORMERS
Yorgio Golesis - 16 PTS, 5 AST, 4 REB
James Cloud - 11 PTS, 1 BLK, 3-3 FT
Nick Bonifay - 7 PTS, 3 STL, 2 AST

STAT OF THE GAME: Oklahoma City had an excellent day at the free throw line missing only one foul shot by going 10-of-11 from the stripe with Lawrence Taylor Jr, James Cloud and Avery Jackson all shooting perfect. 

FIRST HALF: Trailing 13-6 five minutes through, Oklahoma City scored six straight points to cut it one after three consecutive twos from Avery Jackson, Lawrence Taylor Jr and Yorgio Golesis. The Stars stayed within four points of UNT-Dallas before the Trailblazers strung together a 12-3 run in the final 4:44 that was stopped by an Avery Jackson three to end the half trailing by 10.

SECOND HALF:Oklahoma City cut down the double-digit deficit to nine with 14:47 to play on a Golesis three-point play. on the ensuing possession UNT-Dallas went right back up by 11 and followed it up with a 10-2 run to secure its largest lead of 17 with 11 minutes to go. The Stars gave one last run of momentum with an 8-0 stretch that brought the deficit down to nine with eight minutes to go however once again the Trailblazers turned right around with another surge. OCU was only able to score just five points across six minutes of play while UNT-Dallas saw their lead grow up to 19 points before shutting things down 75-58. 

GAME NOTES

• Oklahoma City moves to 10-9 overall after dropping its second consecutive game while moving to eighth place in the conference with a 6-9 record in SAC play.
• Yorgio Golesis led the team with 16 points to notch his fourth straight game scoring in double-figures while dishing out a game-high five assists making it the 11th time this year he has tabbed five or more in a game. 
• James Cloud reached double-digit numbers in scoring for the first time since Jan. 4 against Science & Arts as the Stars sophomore scored 11 on the day shooting 4-for-9 from the field and 3-of-3 from the line. 
• Oklahoma City struggled from beyond the arc shooting 2-for-11 from distance with Nick Bonifay and Avery Jackson sinking the two Stars threes both coming in the first half. 
• OCU and UNT-Dallas split the season-series after the Stars earned a 75-73 victory on the road. 
• The Stars hold a 6-2 series lead over the Trailblazers since first meeting in 2021 winning the last two of three meetings over UNTD.

NEXT TIME OUT: The Stars will pick up play on the road for their third game in five days facing John Brown on Monday, Jan. 20 at 8:00 PM in Siloam Springs, Ark. 

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