Troy University Athletics
Trojans Fall at Buzzer
1/24/2008 6:00:00 AM | Basketball (M)
TROY, Ala. - Arkansas Little-Rock's Steven Moore went coast-to-coast in 4.2 seconds, connecting on a game-winning lay-up, allowing the Trojans to down Troy 63-61 at Trojan Arena Thursday night.
“We wanted to make him drive the entire the length of the floor,” Troy head coach Don Maestri said. “Instead we made a mistake and got in front of the kid and he got in front of us. Therefore, he caught the ball in front and our guys backed up, making him drive against five guys ready to play defense. That was a mistake, but the kid made a great shot over Jarvis (Acker). That was a great play on his part because he made the shot, he could have missed it.”
Trailing 60-54 with just 45 seconds remaining, O'Darien Bassett faked a drive and connected on a long three-pointer from the top of the key to trim the deficit to 60-57 with 33 seconds remaining. After Moore missed two free throws, Bassett drove the lane and connected on a lay-up to trim the lead to 60-59 with 23 seconds remaining.
On UALR's next trip down the floor, Moore was fouled and connected in the front end of a two-shot foul, giving Arkansas-Little Rock (13-6, 5-3 SBC) a 61-59 lead. However, he missed the second free throw and Troy's Jarvis Acker was able to pull down the rebound.
Bassett drove the lane again, this time with just five seconds remaining, connecting on a lay-up to tie the game at 61-61. Following the lay-up, Arkansas-Little Rock called a timeout to set up the play for Moore.
The ball was inbounded to Moore in front of the Trojans bench, he then proceeded to drive the right side of the court weaving through defenders until he threw up the game-winning shot from about four feet at the buzzer.
“I give them credit,” Maestri said. “But I can't say enough about how our team came back. In a game where we played poorly, we executed poorly, a game where they had a good gameplan, this game could have been an overtime game. That is in itself an accomplishment. There are many, many teams that would have left at the five-minute mark and said the heck with it. But this team didn't do that and so we have a team that we play on Sunday afternoon.”
Troy (9-10, 2-6 SBC) shot 45.1 (23-of-51) percent from the floor, while connecting on 38.1 (8-of-21) percent from behind the arc. However, the Trojans managed to shoot only 46.7 (7-of-15) percent from the free throw line in the loss.
Meanwhile, Arkansas State shot 38.2 (21-of-55) percent from the floor, and just 27.8 (5-of-18) percent from behind the arc. They shot 84.2 (16-of-19) percent from the free throw line and outrebounded Troy 38-32.
Moore finished with 17 points for Arkansas-Little Rock off the bench, while John Fowler added 15 off the bench.
Bassett paced three Trojans in double figures with 14 points, while Jerome Odem and Justin Jonus added 13.
Troy returns to action Sunday afternoon against Louisiana-Lafayette. The game is set to tip-off at 1:00 p.m. at Trojan Arena.
“We wanted to make him drive the entire the length of the floor,” Troy head coach Don Maestri said. “Instead we made a mistake and got in front of the kid and he got in front of us. Therefore, he caught the ball in front and our guys backed up, making him drive against five guys ready to play defense. That was a mistake, but the kid made a great shot over Jarvis (Acker). That was a great play on his part because he made the shot, he could have missed it.”
Trailing 60-54 with just 45 seconds remaining, O'Darien Bassett faked a drive and connected on a long three-pointer from the top of the key to trim the deficit to 60-57 with 33 seconds remaining. After Moore missed two free throws, Bassett drove the lane and connected on a lay-up to trim the lead to 60-59 with 23 seconds remaining.
On UALR's next trip down the floor, Moore was fouled and connected in the front end of a two-shot foul, giving Arkansas-Little Rock (13-6, 5-3 SBC) a 61-59 lead. However, he missed the second free throw and Troy's Jarvis Acker was able to pull down the rebound.
Bassett drove the lane again, this time with just five seconds remaining, connecting on a lay-up to tie the game at 61-61. Following the lay-up, Arkansas-Little Rock called a timeout to set up the play for Moore.
The ball was inbounded to Moore in front of the Trojans bench, he then proceeded to drive the right side of the court weaving through defenders until he threw up the game-winning shot from about four feet at the buzzer.
“I give them credit,” Maestri said. “But I can't say enough about how our team came back. In a game where we played poorly, we executed poorly, a game where they had a good gameplan, this game could have been an overtime game. That is in itself an accomplishment. There are many, many teams that would have left at the five-minute mark and said the heck with it. But this team didn't do that and so we have a team that we play on Sunday afternoon.”
Troy (9-10, 2-6 SBC) shot 45.1 (23-of-51) percent from the floor, while connecting on 38.1 (8-of-21) percent from behind the arc. However, the Trojans managed to shoot only 46.7 (7-of-15) percent from the free throw line in the loss.
Meanwhile, Arkansas State shot 38.2 (21-of-55) percent from the floor, and just 27.8 (5-of-18) percent from behind the arc. They shot 84.2 (16-of-19) percent from the free throw line and outrebounded Troy 38-32.
Moore finished with 17 points for Arkansas-Little Rock off the bench, while John Fowler added 15 off the bench.
Bassett paced three Trojans in double figures with 14 points, while Jerome Odem and Justin Jonus added 13.
Troy returns to action Sunday afternoon against Louisiana-Lafayette. The game is set to tip-off at 1:00 p.m. at Trojan Arena.
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