Troy University Athletics
Troy University
Florida International
Troy Falls to Florida International on the Road
1/9/2008 6:00:00 AM | Basketball (M)
MIAMI, Fla. - The Troy University Trojans struggled from the field against Florida International University, falling to the Golden Panthers 74-49 at Pharmed Arena in Sun Belt Conference action Wednesday night.
The Trojans led twice in the game, once after an opening three-pointer by Jerome Odem put them up 3-2 and another at 5-4 on a Trayce Macon lay-up with 17:10 remaining in the first half. From there, Florida International went on a 24-4 run over a span of eight minutes to grab a 26-9 lead with 9:46 to play in the opening half.
The Trojans were held to a season-low 19 points in the first half, as Florida International raced to a 37-19 lead at the intermission. Throughout the first half, the Golden Panthers were able to knock down open shots, while Troy (8-7, 1-3 SBC) was held to just 1-of-12 from behind the arc.
Troy opened the second half by scoring on their first two possessions to trim the lead to 39-23. Jarvis Acker scored the first points of the half with a short jumper, trimming the lead to 37-21; before Odem connected on a lay-up with 17:41 to play in the half to trim the lead to 16.
However, just like the first half, the Trojans were cold from the floor over a span of eight minutes and allowed Florida International to go on an 18-8 run and pull away midway through the final half.
Florida International shot 55.4 (31-of-56) percent from the floor, and hit 46.2 (6-of-13) percent of their three-point attempts. They also connected on 75 (6-of-8) percent of their free throw attempts. Meanwhile, Troy shot 27.9 (17-of-61) percent from the floor and just 22.6 (7-of-31) percent from behind the arc. They also shot just 57.1 (8-of-14) percent from the free throw line.
"There are so many games in basketball," Troy head coach Don Maestri said. "There are some nights where you shoot the ball horribly. This was one tonight. With four minutes left in the game, our shooters did not have good numbers. It is kind of funny when you think as many good shooters as we have, that someone would have a good night shooting the ball.
Some things don't have an answer, some problems don't have an answer and I think tonight was one of those nights. You can't explain it and you can't figure it out. I do know this, you have to forget about it."
Erick Nsangou paced four Florida International (5-9, 2-2 SBC) in double figures with 17 points, while Russell Hicks added 16 points and 10 rebounds. Chris Fuller added 12 and Kenneth White 11 in the victory. Alex Gallindo chipped in with 10 rebounds.
Troy was paced by Michael Vogler with 13 points off the bench, on 4-of-5 shooting from the floor, while Macon added 10 in the loss.
"We are going to be back here at Florida International tomorrow for practice," Maestri said. "I think we need to run the heck out of our kids tomrorow. It is like confession, you've got to go ahead and make your act of attrition and we are going to go ahead and do ours tomorrow morning. It is just to get it out of their system, it is not to punish them. I think you need to run until you can't hardly stand up, that way they will be able to get their legs back up under them for Saturday's game.
The game on Saturday is the next game, and the next game on our schedule is always the biggest game the direction we want our team going. And it is a televised game, so we have to be ready to play and play on television against a very good Florida Atlantic team."
The Trojans return to action Saturday night against Florida Atlantic. The game is televised by ESPNU and will be carried by CSS in the Troy area.
