Troy Falls in Overtime, Sartain Finale

Saturday, February 18

Troy, Ala.

7:30 p.m.

Troy University

University of Arkansas - Little Rock

Photo by: Kevin Glackmeyer

2/18/2012 10:41:00 PM | Basketball (M)

By: Matt Mays

Box Score

TROY, Ala. – The last game ever at Sartain Hall was certainly a thriller, but Troy found itself on the wrong end of a 74-62 overtime loss in the 50-year-old building's farewell contest.

“We did everything but win the game,” said head coach Don Maestri. “We played as hard and as emotional as we could and we really wanted to leave this facility with a win.”

Justin Wright calmly sank two free throws with eight seconds left to tie things up at 56-56 and Troy made the defensive stand it needed to force the Trojans' (8-17, 3-11) first overtime period of the season.

However, Troy couldn't harness the energy from the Sartain Hall crowd as UALR (14-14, 11-3) started the overtime period on an 8-0 run to help seal the win.

Alan Jones led Troy with a game-high 17 points, including a big 3-pointer with 1:04 to go that helped force the extra frame while Justin Wright also 10 points for the Trojans.

UALR was led by Chuck Guy who had 16 thanks in large part to 4-of-8 from deep. The Trojans shot 4-of-5 from the field, 2-of-2 from deep and 8-of-8 from the line in the overtime period.

Troy out-rebounded UALR 37-36 but committed 17 turnovers as they were outscored 18-8 in points off turnovers.

The Trojans return to the floor on Thursday when they travel to take on FIU in Miami. Troy will close out the regular season with a road contest at Florida Atlantic next Saturday. For more information on Troy Athletics, visit us at TroyTrojans.com.

Fans can also find Troy on Twitter at @TroyAthletics or become fans at www.facebook.com/TroyAthletics.

UALR 74, TROY 62

Troy played tough defense early, holding UALR to 3-of-15 over the first 13 minutes of the contest, but UALR hit six free throws in that stretch and Troy shot just 1-of-6 from deep as they held a 16-13 lead with 7:20 to go in the first half.

UALR cut the lead to two at 19-17 with 5:02 to go, but the Trojans used a 10-4 to pull ahead by as many as eight at 29-21 with 1:09 to go in the frame. UALR used three freebies in the last 30 seconds to cut the Troy lead to 29-24 at the half.

The story of the first half remained the Trojans defense as they held UALR to 23.1 percent (6-of-26) from the floor and just 1-of-7 from deep. UALR scored 11 points from the charity stripe while the 24 points allowed by Troy were the fewest in a first half this season.

The second half was a back-and-forth affair throughout as UALR heated up from deep at the end and Trojans held on to force overtime.

After trailing the entire first half, UALR pulled even at 35-35 with 12:33 to go in the first, but an Alan Jones triple and Ray Chambers second-chance bucket got Troy back ahead by five at 40-35.

Four straight points by UALR's Courtney Jackson got them back within one at 40-39, but after an Alan Jones jumper, Ray Chambers drew a foul from Jackson after a made basket that gave the senior four fouls and sent him to the bench.

Chambers converted on the free throw and put Troy up six, 45-39. That is when UALR's Chuck Guy made five straight for the Trojans and pulled them within one again at 45-44.

After a couple of made free throws from Emil Jones made it 47-44, UALR hit two 3-pointers to take their first lead of the game, 50-47, with 2:53 left. Chambers ended a stretch of seven minutes without a field goal as his bucket at the 2:40 mark made it 50-49.

UALR continued to heat from outside as another triple put them up by four, 53-49, with 2:13 to go. After two Will Weathers free throws made it a two-point game, 53-51, Alan Jones blew the top of off Sartain with a 3-pointer that put Troy up 54-53 with 1:04 to go.

D'Andre Williams hit the 3-pointer for UALR that gave them a 56-54 lead with 35 second to go and set up a rocking last couple of possessions in Sartain.

A Tim Owens attempt went halfway down and came back out with 15 seconds to go and UALR seemed poised to ice the game at the line, but Tramar Sutherland missed the front end of the one-and-one and Troy's Justin Wright was fouled grabbing the rebound.

The junior calmly sank both attempts with eight seconds left to tie things up at 56-56 and set up Troy's last second defensive stand. Williams could only manage a deep 3-point attempt for UALR than barely made it to the rim as the game went to overtime.

UALR was 6-of-12 in the second half as Troy was just 2-of-6 and shot just 34.8 percent (8-of-23) overall.