Troy Can't Maintain Early Momentum

Thursday, January 19

Troy, Ala.

7:30 p.m.

Troy University

Florida Atlantic University

Photo by: Cass Davis

1/19/2012 10:12:00 PM | Basketball (M)

By: Matt Mays

Box Score

TROY, Ala. – A new starting five served its intended purpose early, but Troy couldn't sustain a hot start as they fell to Florida Atlantic, 88-67, at home on Thursday night.

The Trojans (6-11, 1-5) unveiled a starting five featuring Justin Wright and Steven Cunningham together for the first time this season, and rode the new combination to an early 13-0 lead, but the Owls (7-12, 3-3) responded and used their best shooting night of the season to pick up the win.

Emil Jones led the Trojans with a career-high 19 points to go along with 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the season, but no other Trojans were in double figures. Greg Gantt led four Owls in double digits with 25.

Jones shot 7-of-11 from the floor and 3-of-4 from deep, but the rest of Trojans were cold despite starting the game on fire. Troy hit 9-of-10 as they built the 13-0 lead, but finished the first half 2-of-20 and trailed at the break, 42-29.

Troy finished the game at 37.5 percent (24-of-64) from the field while Florida Atlantic shot a season-best 55.4 percent (31-of-56), including 52.9 percent (9-of-17) from deep.

Troy couldn't withstand an 18-0 run by FAU midway through the first half and saw things slip away from there as they fell into some uncharacteristic trends. On the night, Troy turned the ball over 17 times and committed 21 fouls, the most in each category in nearly two months.

The Trojans now turn their attention to Saturday and a visiting ULM squad that fell to Denver on Thursday night, but the focus for Troy will undoubtedly be on themselves. The Trojans and Warhawks tip-off at 7:30 p.m. inside of Sartain Hall.

For more information on Troy Athletics, be sure to visit TroyTrojans.com. Fans can also find Troy on Twitter at @TroyAthletics or become fans on Facebook.

FLORIDA ATLANTIC 88, TROY 67

The first half was one of two extremes as the Trojans started the game 9-of-10 from the floor but hit just 2-of-20 for the remainder of the half. An 18-0 run by the Owls over that cold stretch helped Florida Atlantic to a 42-29 halftime lead.

It wasn't just offensive struggles by Troy that contributed to the halftime deficit as the Owls shot a blistering 50.0 percent (14-of-28) in the frame.

The Trojans got out to a hot start as they started the game on a 13-0 run before Florida Atlantic finally got on the board with Greg Gantt three-pointer at the 16:02 mark. Before those points by the Owls, the Trojans got two triples from their new starter, Justin Wright.

Wright, making his first start since New Year's Eve at North Texas, knocked down his first two shots to open up an early Troy shooting barrage.

The Trojans started the game 6-of-7 from behind the arc, just one game after going 6-of-37 in a loss to South Alabama. Emil Jones and Alan Jones hits the other four treys for the Trojans as they built a 24-14 lead at the 11:30 mark.

However, the Owls would cut the lead down as the Trojans cooled off midway through the first half. Florida Atlantic cut the score down to 27-21 at the 9:46 mark as the Trojans went from 9-of-10 from the floor to 10-of-18.

The Trojans continued to struggle offensively as they went eight minutes without scoring and the Owls went on a 18-0 run to build a 39-27 lead. An Emil Jones jumper got the Trojans out of the funk and cut the lead to 10 at 39-29 with 1:22 to go in the first half.

After a strong offensive first half, the Owls couldn't miss early in the second half either as they started the frame at a 10-of-16 clip to build a 65-46 lead with 10:47 to go. The Trojans couldn't cut the lead to any less than 18 for the remainder of the game as both teams evened off from the field and closed out the contest.