Davis Hits Game-Winning Basket Against Louisiana-Lafayette

Box Score

DENTON (1/11/07) Kendrick Davis hit a free throw that completed a three-point play with two seconds left in overtime, giving the North Texas men’s basketball team a 73-72 victory on Thursday night in the Super Pit.

The Mean Green (12-5, 3-3 Sun Belt) snapped a two-game losing streak with the win, while Louisiana-Lafayette (4-13, 2-5 Sun Belt) continues to hold a 14-8 advantage in the series between the two teams.

“I thought this was a hard-fought game tonight,” said North Texas head coach Johnny Jones. “We expected nothing less from Louisiana-Lafayette. They always play us tough. We were very fortunate tonight to be in position with time running out to get a basket and ultimately a free throw that wound up being the difference.

Davis completed a three-point play to tie the game at 64-64 and send the game into overtime and then posted another three-point play to win the game. The senior was fouled with two seconds remaining after driving to the basket for a layup.

“We are a very good three-point shooting team,” said Jones. “Tonight we made several three-pointers the old-fashion way. Davis could have settled for a three-pointer late in overtime, but he had the presence of mind to penetrate and get to the foul line.”

Davis scored a season-high 22 points and led three players in double figures. Calvin Watson came off the bench to score 15 points, while Quincy Williams scored 11 of his 13 points in the first half.

There were 14 lead changes in the game with neither team leading by more than eight points. Louisiana-Lafayette held an eight-point lead, 59-51, with 4:42 left in the second half after trailing by one at the half. Rich Young hit a three-pointer to cut the UL-Lafayette to three, 61-58, with 2:11 on the clock. Watson sliced to the basket to hit a layup to cut the lead to three again, 64-61, with 1:02 remaining.

The Mean Green orchestrated a full-court press on UL-Lafayette and Ben Bell came up with a steal at half-court. Davis hit a jumper down by the baseline, was fouled and completed the three-point play with 49 seconds left in the second half. The Ragin’ Cajuns had two opportunities to win the game but missed two shots.

North Texas held the lead at the start and end of the overtime.

The Mean Green returns to action on Thursday, Jan. 11 in Miami against FIU at 6 pm.

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