Trojans Repel Hornets, 85-74

Saturday, December 8

TROY

7:00 PM

Troy University

Alabama State

12/8/2007 6:00:00 AM | Basketball (M)

TROY, Ala.- Senior O'Darien Bassett led the Trojans with 23 points in an 85-74 win over Alabama State Saturday night at Trojan Arena.

“O'Darien came to play tonight,” coach Don Maestri said. “He had a poor game against them last year, and he had his pride on the line. He was alone in the gym last night shooting trying to get ready for the game and he was definitely ready tonight.”

In a game that saw seven ties and eight lead changes, the Trojans (4-4) forced 22 turnovers leading to 24 points.

“This was a good 40 minutes of basketball tonight,” Maestri said. “It was a hard fought game, but we played the whole game and beat a very good team. We were able to force a lot of turnovers, and we got several points off of their mistakes.”

The bright spot for Troy was its ability to score points off of the bench. Sophomore Michael Vogler scored seven points but impressed the crowd with his passing ability.

“Michael always provides a spark for us,” Maestri said. “He is a good player that creates and makes things happen when he is in there.”

The Trojans' bench outscored the Alabama State's (3-3) bench 36-14.

“Our bench was in the game physically and mentally,” Maestri said. “Whenever they play like that, you always have a chance.”

The Hornets' Chief Kickingstallionsims dominated inside the paint in the first several possessions of the game with six points and three rebounds in the first five minutes.

Troy had its largest lead of the first half, at the 8:05 mark at 30-26.

The two teams traded three pointers in the final three minutes of the half with the Hornets' taking the 37-36 halftime lead.

The Hornets' out scored the Trojans 22-15 in the paint but the Trojans' bench was the difference in the first half for Troy. Vogler had seven of Troy's 18 bench points.

Alabama State shot an impressive 47 percent form the floor in the first half on 16-of-34 shooting. The Trojans shot 37 percent including 6-of-17 from behind the arc.

At the 12:50 mark in the second half, senior Jerome Odem scored five consecutive points on a three-pointer and a lay-up.

The Trojans pushed their lead to 10 with a Mario Telfair lay-up, followed by a three from Brandon Hazzard. After a five-second violation, Telfair delivered another lay-up giving the Troy its largest lead of the night at 62-52.

The Trojans pushed to lead to 14 with consecutive baskets from Bassett widening the margin to 71-57.

With two minutes left in the game, Justin Jonus missed a three but junior Tom Jervis slammed home the rebound helping put away the win.

Along with Bassett, the Trojans had two other players in double figures; Jervis had 10 points with Telfair adding 10.

Troy will be back in action Saturday December 15, at 12:00 noon hosting Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.