Walton leads North Texas past UC Riverside 76-72

Jan 4, 2014, 05:36 pm

DENTON, Texas -- Brandan Walton hit four 3-pointers to finish with 14 points as North Texas held on to defeat UC Riverside 76-72 on Saturday.

Walton scored a 3-pointer to stretch the North Texas (9-5) lead to 69-62 with 1:32 remaining. UC Riverside (5-9) answered with an 8-4 run, capped by Nick Gruninger's 3-pointer, to pull the Highlanders within 72-70 with 23 seconds left. North Texas made two of four free throws, and a layup by Maurice Aniefiok capped the scoring for North Texas.

Aniefiok scored 13 points. Colin Voss added 8 points with 10 rebounds for the Mean Green.

North Texas led 49-35 with 14:45 to play. UC Riverside answered with a 23-9 run, capped by six straight points by Sam Finley, to tie it at 58 with 7:08 to play.

Finley and Steven Thornton each scored 18 points. Taylor Johns added 8 points with 15 rebounds to lead UC Riverside.