Josh White scored 24 points and Eric Tramiel had 21 and North Texas held off a late charge by Florida Atlantic for a 79-73 victory in a first-round game of the Sun Belt Conference tournament Wednesday. North Texas (19-11) led 62-48 at the 10:15 mark of the second half before Florida Atlantic (6-26) went on a 27-15 run. Paul Graham III scored 17 of his 23 points during that span to help close the gap to 75-73 with 48.7 seconds remaining. Dominique Johnson and White each made two free throws in the final 12.2 seconds to secure the contest for North Texas, which faces Middle Tennessee Sunday in a second round game at Hot Springs, Ark. George Odufuwa added 13 for the Mean Green. Carlos Moreno had 15 points and Shavar Richardson 11 points for Florida Atlantic, which was winless in all 18 of its road games this season.
