Rebels Dominate Trojans Inside

Tuesday, November 27

Oxford, Miss.

7:00 PM

Troy University

102

University of Mississippi

11/27/2007 6:00:00 AM | Basketball (M)

OXFORD, Miss. ? Troy would lead Ole Miss until the 3:34 mark of the first half before ultimately falling to the interior play of the Rebels 102-76 in men's basketball action at Tad Smith Coliseum.

Ole Miss (5-0) would out score Troy 54-20 in the paint.

“They were strong inside. That's one of their strengths,” coach Don Maestri said.

“In the second half we got off to a poor start offensively.

“But we played probably the best first half of basketball of the season since practice started October 15,” he said.

The Trojans (1-4) would also fall victim to an untimely cold streak as Ole Miss would open up a 28 point lead as part of a 25-2 run to start the second half, leading 72-44.

Troy would score in the opening minute but fail to put another point on the board until Bernard Toombs sunk a free throw with 11:11 remaining.

After shooting 43.9 percent from the field in the first half, Troy slumped to 23.7 percent in the second half. The Trojans shot 36.4 percent from behind the arc in the game.

Troy opened up the game with an eight point run forcing Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy to burn his first time out at the 18:10 mark of the first half.

The Trojans would stretch their lead to as much as seven at the seven-and-a-half minute mark.

Ole Miss was able to tie the game at 33-33 with 4:20 remaining in the first half, but Troy was able to retake the lead on a Jonus lay-up just 56 seconds later.

The Trojans would hold the lead as late as 3:34 remaining, but Mississippi would take their first lead of the contest with three minutes and seven seconds remaining, jumping on top 36-35 behind a Dwayne Curtis free throw.

The Trojans would tie the game on a Jonus three-pointer at the 2:09 mark at 40, relinquishing the lead on two Zach Graham free throws.

Troy and Ole Miss entered halftime with the Trojans trailing 47-42. Jonus led the Trojans' mid-way scoring with nine points. Bassett had seven at the half.

Following the Mississippi run to open the second half, Troy would attempt to claw back into the contest using a four guard offense but the closest the Trojans would get was 24 points at 89-65 with 3:49 to go.

Jerome Odem led Troy in scoring with 17 points. Jonus would finish up with 12 on the night, while Bassett added nine points and a season high eight r

Tom Jervis would produce the most impressive individual line of the night with eight points, nine rebounds and a Troy team record nine blocks.

Brandon Hazzard would set a new career-high in scoring with 11 points on the day.

Troy will complete their four game road swing on Saturday at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi before returning home to face Shorter College on December 4.

TROY Notes:

Mario Telfair entered the game in the 16^th minute, marking the first time he has played since injuring his nose against Alabama on November 9. Telfair tallied six points and seven rebounds in his return.

The Trojans have won the opening tip in every game so far in 2007-08 with the exception of one contest, November 24 versus Georgia State.

Tom Jervis set a career high and a Troy individual record with nine blocks.