Men's Basketball

Box Score

DENTON, Texas (1/21/10) - Eric Tramiel played perhaps his best game of the season by notching a career-high in points (25) and a season-high in rebounds (13) to help the Mean Green get a critical win over the South Alabama Jaguars 86-78 Thursday evening at The Super Pit.

The senior forward from Shreveport, LA made 10-of-17 shots from the field and converted 5-of-6 from the free throw line, but one of his biggest plays of the night came on the defensive end when he blocked Martino Brock's three-point attempt in the closing seconds while maintaining a four-point lead.

Four other players scored in double figures for the Mean Green, including a monster performance from George Odufuwa. The junior forward scored 16 points and pulled down 16 rebounds, six of which came on the offensive end.

Thursday marked the first time since 2007 that two Mean Green notched double-doubles. The last time it occurred was at the Sun Belt Conference Tournament quarterfinals when Quincy Williams and Harold Stewart did the honors.

Others that contributed in double-digit scoring were Tristan Thompson (15 points), Josh White (14 points) and Shannon Shorter (10 points).

North Texas (12-7, 5-4) outrebounded the Jaguars 48-31 and held a 49-42 percent advantage from the field. The Mean Green was also solid from the charity stripe, knocking down 20-of-24 for an 83 percent clip.

South Alabama (12-8, 4-4) was led by Bryan Sherrer and Tim Williams, each of which scored 20 points.

North Texas now trails the all-times series against the Jags 13-5.

 The Mean Green fell behind by as many as 11 points (34-23) in the first half but North Texas regrouped and went on a run of their own. Over the final six minutes North Texas outscored South Alabama 15-4 with most of the damage coming from Tramiel.

The senior forward came off the bench to score eight straight points during that run and ended the first half with 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting.

Both teams went into the half tied 38-38, the first time all season North Texas went into the break tied. The Mean Green shot 42 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes and made 10-of-13 from the free throw line. North Texas did most of their scoring inside where they held a 20-10 advantage over the Jaguars in the paint.

South Alabama jumped out to a 23-15 lead in the game's first nine minutes, nine of those points coming from Williams.

North Texas will now have a weekend off and will jump back into action January 28 when they travel to Western Kentucky. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.