Troy University Athletics
Saturday, November 24
Atlanta, Ga.
4:00 PM
Troy University
92
at
97
Georgia State University
Troy Rally Falls Short in 97-92 Loss at GSU
11/24/2007 6:00:00 AM | Basketball (M)
ATLANTA, Ga. - After falling behind by as many as 27 points early in the second half, the Troy Trojans put on a furious comeback against the Panthers of Georgia State, but fell just short in a 97-92 loss at the GSU Sports Arena.
The Trojans closed to within three points with 17 seconds left in the game, but three-point attempts by O'Darien Bassett and Justin Jonus were off the mark and GSU's D.J. Jones hit a pair of free throws with 5.9 seconds left to ice the Panthers' first victory of the season.
“We set up for our two best shooters, Bassett and Jonus, to take three-point shots and they got open looks, but couldn't hit the shots,” Troy head coach Don Maestri said. “If either of them had made that shot, we might have won in regulation because they had panicked.”
GSU improved to 1-3 on the year while dropping the Trojans to the same mark.
The Troy comeback came with a five guard attack against the bigger Georgia State team. The Trojans forced GSU into 12 turnovers after going to the five guard attack. Senior Jerome Odem sparked the rally by scoring the last 12 points for Troy, including a trio of three-pointers.
“The effort that it took the make the comeback was exceptional,” Maestri said. “Jerome got hot. We probably should have set the play up for him at the end, but you still have to have the confidence to go with your best shooters.”
Troy trailed by 15 points, 49-34, at halftime after falling behind by double-digits early behind three-point shooting from the Panthers' junior guard Leonard Mendez, who hit four of his six three-pointers in the opening half. He finished as the game's leading scorer with 29 points despite missing most of the second half with back spasms.
The Trojans struggled against the Georgia State pressure in the first half. Troy managed to hit just 38 percent from the field, including just two of 13 from three-point range. The Trojans also turned the ball over 13 times in the opening half, which led to 21 GSU points off turnovers.
The Panthers came into the game having hit just six three-pointers in three games, but connected on five from long range in the opening half against Troy. Junior guard Leonard Mendez was the primary weapon for GSU, hitting eight-of-12 from the floor, including four-of-six from three-point range, in the opening half to lead all scorers with 21 points.
GSU finished with nine three-pointers in the game, shooting 45 percent from beyond the arc. Troy hit 11-0f-34 from three-point range but could not connect when the game was on the line. The Trojans were also outrebounded in the game 57-33.
Behind the 29 points from Mendez, GSU got 17 points and 16 rebounds from Rashad Chase, 15 points from Trae Goldston and 11 from Kevin Lott.
Bassett led Troy with 19 points, following by 17 from Odem, 16 from Jonus and 10 from Michael Vogler.
The Trojans will continue their four-game road trip on Tuesday night at Ole Miss. Game time from Oxford, Miss., is set for 7 p.m.
The Trojans closed to within three points with 17 seconds left in the game, but three-point attempts by O'Darien Bassett and Justin Jonus were off the mark and GSU's D.J. Jones hit a pair of free throws with 5.9 seconds left to ice the Panthers' first victory of the season.
“We set up for our two best shooters, Bassett and Jonus, to take three-point shots and they got open looks, but couldn't hit the shots,” Troy head coach Don Maestri said. “If either of them had made that shot, we might have won in regulation because they had panicked.”
GSU improved to 1-3 on the year while dropping the Trojans to the same mark.
The Troy comeback came with a five guard attack against the bigger Georgia State team. The Trojans forced GSU into 12 turnovers after going to the five guard attack. Senior Jerome Odem sparked the rally by scoring the last 12 points for Troy, including a trio of three-pointers.
“The effort that it took the make the comeback was exceptional,” Maestri said. “Jerome got hot. We probably should have set the play up for him at the end, but you still have to have the confidence to go with your best shooters.”
Troy trailed by 15 points, 49-34, at halftime after falling behind by double-digits early behind three-point shooting from the Panthers' junior guard Leonard Mendez, who hit four of his six three-pointers in the opening half. He finished as the game's leading scorer with 29 points despite missing most of the second half with back spasms.
The Trojans struggled against the Georgia State pressure in the first half. Troy managed to hit just 38 percent from the field, including just two of 13 from three-point range. The Trojans also turned the ball over 13 times in the opening half, which led to 21 GSU points off turnovers.
The Panthers came into the game having hit just six three-pointers in three games, but connected on five from long range in the opening half against Troy. Junior guard Leonard Mendez was the primary weapon for GSU, hitting eight-of-12 from the floor, including four-of-six from three-point range, in the opening half to lead all scorers with 21 points.
GSU finished with nine three-pointers in the game, shooting 45 percent from beyond the arc. Troy hit 11-0f-34 from three-point range but could not connect when the game was on the line. The Trojans were also outrebounded in the game 57-33.
Behind the 29 points from Mendez, GSU got 17 points and 16 rebounds from Rashad Chase, 15 points from Trae Goldston and 11 from Kevin Lott.
Bassett led Troy with 19 points, following by 17 from Odem, 16 from Jonus and 10 from Michael Vogler.
The Trojans will continue their four-game road trip on Tuesday night at Ole Miss. Game time from Oxford, Miss., is set for 7 p.m.
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