Trojans Hold On for 68-63 Win

Tuesday, November 25

Troy, Ala.

7:30 p.m.

Troy University

Georgia State

11/25/2008 6:00:00 AM | Basketball (M)

TROY ? Throughout Troy's first four games the Trojans had struggled in the second half, but Tuesday they excelled, defeating Georgia State 68-63 at Trojan Arena.

After a Troy timeout with 2:09 remaining, Richard Delk could not convert a runner in the lane and Georgia State picked up two points from Joe Dukes to make it a one possession game.

On the subsequent possession the Panthers' Xavier Hansbro mishandled the ball in the post and had it stripped loose by Mario Telfair who quickly called a timeout from the ground with just 30.4 seconds remaining and the Trojans leading by two points, 64-62.

After getting the ball inbounds and with just 18.6 seconds between the Trojans and a victory, Regis Huddleston was fouled and went to the line and converted two free throws doubling Troy's lead to 66-62.

Next, Vogler was called for a foul on Dukes, who split a pair. On the following possession the junior from Lynn Haven, Fla. went to the line for two of his own and sank both for the final advantage.

“We played four games prior to tonight and in all four we were outscored and out-rebounded in the second half. It was a good performance for our guys and for us to play as intense and we did in the second half was good. Our kids had to play well together to come out on top tonight,” head coach Don Maestri said.

The story of the second half for the Panthers was Leonard Mendez. The senior guard set his career-high with 29 against the Trojans last season and again had a great game against Troy this year finishing with 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting.

Travis Lee gave the Trojans their largest lead of the night, 11 points, with a transition three at the six minute mark to push Troy ahead 64-53, but Mendez answered back with another three-pointer cutting the lead back down to eight.

Huddleston hit his first three pointer of the game to open the contest and Brandon Hazzard's first three-pointer gave the Trojans a 10-8 lead with 16:00 on the clock in the first half.

After Hazzard hit jumper in transition, Georgia State head coach Rod Barnes had seen enough and called his first timeout. Out of the timeout Hazzard's scoring surge continued with another three pointer.

Vogler connected on his first points of the game to push Troy's lead out to 18-13 with 11:20 to go in the opening half. After a defensive stop Travis Lee hit his first attempt from deep to stretch the Trojan lead to 21-13.

Antywan Jones found Delk for an emphatic alley-oop dunk with 4:40 to go to give the Trojans a 29-21 lead. Jones got two of his own on a fast break dunk on the next play.

Dukes knocked down a pair of free throws for Georgia State to cut the lead to five with just more than a minute on the clock in the first half at 35-30.

Troy went on a 7-2 run to start the second half, pulling ahead 42-34 in the first four minutes of the second half, but Georgia State answered with five points of their own capped by a Mendez three-pointer slicing the lead to 42-39.

Vogler halted the run with a three-pointer and Delk put in a lay-up to push the lead back to eight at 47-39 with 14 minutes to go.

Lee's third three-pointer pushed Troy's lead out to nine, 57-49, but Trae Goldston came right back with his own deep three.

Lee led the Trojans in scoring with 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc. Delk (11 points), Vogler (10 points) and Hazzard (10 points) were the other Troy players in double-figures.

Jones and Tom Jervis each scored eight points on the night. Jervis also had five rebounds.

Vogler added six rebounds and seven assists to go with his point total and Kenny Ware posted six boards.

“We played 11 guys tonight and each one contributed in their own ways. We had almost six players in double-figures. This was an important victory for our basketball team for two reasons. First, it was at home and secondly, it was over Georgia State a good team from the CAA. It is always good when you can beat quality opponents,” Maestri said.

The Trojans are in action next on Saturday, when they travel to Baton Rouge, La. for the second half of the LSU Thanksgiving Invitational and a showdown with Northwestern State.