DMN NT Men win in double OT 94-91 over

OldTimer · January 6, 2003

UNT wins Sun Belt opener

01/06/2003

By TIM MacMAHON / The Dallas Morning News

MIAMI – There are series that have much more tradition than North Texas-Florida International, but there aren't many with more drama.

The Mean Green opened Sun Belt play with a 94-91 victory in double overtime Sunday at Golden Panther Arena. It was the third time in four meetings between the schools that the game was decided in overtime.

Guard Lee Green hit the go-ahead 3-pointer from the left wing with 26 seconds remaining. The shot halted a run of six unanswered points by the Golden Panthers that came after the Mean Green (6-7, 1-0) built a five-point lead.

"The man that was guarding me gave me a lot of room, so I let it loose," said Green, who was 5-of-11 from 3-point range for a career-high 15 points. "You've got to believe in yourself."

UNT was 3-of-4 from the line on two trips in the final eight seconds, sandwiched around an 18-foot bank shot by FIU forward Rodrigo Viegas. Point guard Jerome Rogers came up with a steal with 1.6 seconds remaining to seal the victory.

"That's college basketball there, man," said UNT swingman Chris Davis, who had season highs of 27 points and eight assists. "I had fun. For us to come out with the victory makes it even more nice."

Davis played all 50 minutes and was 8-of-12 from the floor.

NORTH TEXAS 94, FLA. INTERNATIONAL 91 (2 OT)

NORTH TEXAS 94 (6-7) – J. Green 5-8 3-5 13, DeGrate 3-4 0-0 7, Rogers 5-13 6-6 17, Davis 8-12 8-10 27, L. Green 5-11 0-0 15, Harris 0-0 0-0 0, Chiles 3-5 3-3 11, Awasom 1-2 0-0 2, Masters 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 31-58 20-24 94.

FLA. INTERNATIONAL 91 (6-8) – Baez 5-16 2-5 12, Viegas 5-11 5-7 16, Bamba 2-3 2-2 6, Morban 6-14 3-4 17, Matias 7-12 6-8 22, Fisher 0-5 0-0 0, Slavtchev 0-1 0-0 0, Fernandez 2-7 6-8 10, Novakovic 4-7 0-0 8. Totals 31-76 24-34 91.

Halftime – UNT 45, FIU 37. Three-point goals – UNT 12-25 (L. Green 5-11, Rogers 1-5, Chiles 2-4, Davis 3-3, DeGrate 1-2), FIU 5-16 (Morban 2-5, Matias 2-4, Viegas 1-3, Fisher 0-3, Slavtchev 0-1). Fouled out – DeGrate, Chiles, Fernandez. Rebounds – UNT 30 (Davis 9), FIU 50 (Baez 13). Assists – UNT 17 (Davis 8), FIU 16 (Morban 5). Total fouls – UNT 24, FIU 21. A – 650.

CMJ · January 6, 2003

Great game, I look forward to the next game vs FIU. As was written, they're always good.

GreenEggs&Ham™ · January 7, 2003

Can you believe that there is an article about every single North Texas basketball game in the local paper here in Bowling Green!? Even one today (AP) about the FIU game. I couldn't cut and paste because it didn't appear online, but it sure beats reading line scores every week.