Troy University Athletics
Last-Second Shot Falls Off in 73-71 Loss at Columbia
11/19/2005 12:00:00 AM | Basketball (M)
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Jacob Hazouri tied his career highs with 29 points on eight three-pointers, but a cold-shooting first half was too much to overcome as Troy fell 73-71 to Columbia in the championship game of the Tyler Ugolyn Columbia Classic.
Bobby Dixon missed a three-pointer at the buzzer, but joined Hazouri on the all-tournament team with 12 points, seven rebounds, four assists and five steals against the Lions.
"We got ourselves back in the game after a poor-shooting first-half," said Head Coach Don Maestri. "We still didn't shoot the ball as well as we need to and that is something we are going to have to work on. Overall, though, we played better than last night."
Troy (1-1) trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half, but trimmed the margin to 10 by intermission. The deficit was five with just under two minutes remaining, but Dixon hit a three-pointer with 25 seconds left to make it a two-point game.
After a pair of free throws sent the lead by to four, Cedric Jackson made a layup to get the lead back to two. Sammy Sharp rebounded a missed free throw with seven seconds left to set up Dixon's attempt from the right wing.
Troy started out like gangbusters, scoring the game's first eight points by the 18-minute mark. The lead was 11-10 when the shooting went cold. The Trojans missed 10 straight shots, helping the Lions (2-0) to a 12-0 run. After a Jarvis Acker jumper, Columbia added six straight points for its biggest lead, 29-13 with 5:48 to play in the half.
A 6-0 run by Troy over the final 3:21 of the period trimmed the deficit to just 10, 35-25. The Trojans shot 27 percent in the period, including just two of 16 (12.5 percent) from the three-point arc.
The lead was just 10 with 7:43 to play when Troy made a charge. Hazouri and Dixon back-to-back three-pointers to trim the score to 57-53. The score was 64-58 when the Trojans rattled off five in a row to trail by a single point. However, Dalen Cuff nailed a 24-footer as the shot clock expired to push the lead back to four with 3:13 left.
From there, the teams traded points to stay within two possessions of each other. A conventional three-point play by Cedric Jackson with 2:03 to play cut the lead to three and sset up the final battles.
Jackson also topped double figures for the second straight game with 11 points.
Troy returns to action Wednesday night when it opens the 2005-06 home schedule. Tipoff for the contest against Oakwood is at 7 p.m.
