Trojans Win Thriller at FAU

Saturday, February 25

Boca Raton, Fla.

6:00 p.m.

Troy University

Florida Atlantic University

Photo by: Thomas Graning

2/25/2012 8:27:00 PM | Basketball (M)

By: Matt Mays

Box Score

BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Troy men's basketball team overcame a 19-point halftime deficit to defeat Florida Atlantic on the road on Saturday night, 83-82, in the regular season finale for both teams. The win marked the second straight for Troy as they enter next week's conference tournament.

Troy (10-17, 5-11) finished the game on an 16-2 run over the last 4:46 including the last six from Will Weathers who finished with a season-high 28, including 26 in a dominate second half performance.

Florida Atlantic (11-18, 8-8) led by as many as 19 points thanks to a 12-0 run to open the second half, but the Trojans never seemed out of it. Troy slowly chipped away and culminated the comeback with some clutch free throws in the final minute.

“This was a big win to help build momentum heading into Hot Springs,” said head coach Don Maestri.

After Weathers converted an old fashioned three-point play with 42 seconds left, Troy forced one of 11 FAU turnovers and came away with the final possession, trailing 82-80.

Weathers, who was 4-of-4 from deep in the second half, attempted a triple with 14 seconds and was fouled taking the shot. The junior calmly knocked down all three free throws to give Troy their first lead of the second half at 83-82.

The Owls came up empty on a game-winning attempt and the Trojans picked up their first win at FAU Arena in three years.

Alan Jones was also in double-figures for Troy with 18 points as the Trojans shot 54.4 percent (31-of-57) overall and 57.1 percent (8-of-14) from deep. Troy was 13-of-16 from the line, including 12-of-14 in the second half.

Greg Gantt led FAU with 28 while Pablo Bertone also had 20. Alex Tucker had 10 assists for the Owls but hit just 1-of-3 shots, including a miss on the final possession.

The Trojans next travel to Hot Springs, Ark., for next week's Sun Belt Conference Championships. Troy's opponent will be officially announced on Sunday night. Troy will play on Saturday but the exact time and opponent depends on seeding.

TROY 83, FLORIDA ATLANTIC 82

After scoring on their first possession of the game, the Trojans went scoreless for three minutes as the Owls built an early 8-2 lead. The six-point lead stuck for a while as the Owls held a 36-30 advantage with 3:34 to go in the first.

The Trojans went on a 9-2 run at that point, sparked by a four-point play from Alan Jones at the 3:14 mark to cut it to 36-34. Steven Cunningham hit the next triple for Troy to cut the lead to one at 38-37 before an Emil Jones' jumper gave the Trojans a lead at 39-38 with 2:06 to go.

The lead marked the first for Trojans since they led 2-0 less than a minute into the game. However, the Trojans held the lead for just over a minute as Florida Atlantic scored the final five points of the half to take a 45-41 lead into halftime.

Both sides shot the ball well as each hit at least 60.0 percent from the field. Both sides also shot at least 50.0 percent from deep as the two combined for 10 3-pointers in the first half. FAU hit 6-of-10 from long range while Troy hit 4-of-7.

The Owls 5-0 run to enter the half extended into the second half as Greg Gantt hit three consecutive 3-pointers to give FAU a 54-41 lead. Pablo Bertone extended the run with another triple to pull the Owls ahead by 16 at 57-41.

Troy fell behind by as many as 19 at 63-44 before a 8-0 run cut it to 11 at 63-52. Six of those points came at the line as Troy didn't get a field goal until the 12:52 mark when Weathers got a fastbreak layup to cut the Owl lead to 63-48.

That bucket was part of a stretch where Weathers scored 11 of 13 for the Trojans and Troy cut the lead to single digits at 68-59. However, the Owls got it back up to 14 at 73-59 thanks to a 5-0 run by Bertone.

The run didn't slow down Weathers as the junior scored 15 straight for Troy and the Trojans continued to chip away at the lead. The Owls scored just two points in the final 4:46 as the Trojans worked hard to set up the final push.