Troy University Athletics
FAU Visits for Senior Night Tilt
2/26/2008 6:00:00 AM | Basketball (M)
After four months of work and sweat, the Troy University men's basketball team will play its final home game of the 2007-08 season on Wednesday night.
The Trojans (11-16, 4-12) will entertain the Owls of Florida Atlantic (13-16, 7-9) at 7:30 p.m. The game will be the last at Trojan Arena for four Troy seniors ? guards O'Darien Bassett and Jerome Odem and forwards Justin Jonus and Jarvis Acker.
“It's a tough night for me,” Trojans coach Don Maestri said. “We are always happy to honor the senior players, but we are also sad to see them leave. I can say that it has been a pleasure for me to coach these four guys. They have gone through some tough times over the last two years, have been through some heart-breaking losses, but they always come back ready to work the next day.
“I have always been impressed with the work ethic these guys have displayed. It is easy to come to work when things are going well, but to continue to battle when things are tough says a lot about a person's character.”
In addition to being senior night, the game is extremely important for FAU, which is coming off a win over Middle Tennessee, and needs another victory to secure a first round Sun Belt Conference Tournament game at home.
“FAU is playing very well and is coming off a big win, but they have to have this win to play that first tournament game at home,” Maestri said. “We know that we are going on the road for that first game, so the focus for us is to play well and to shoot the ball better.”
The Trojans snapped a five-game losing streak on Saturday night with a 66-59 victory over Florida International, but still struggled to shoot the ball, hitting a season-low five three-pointers in the game.
“Even though we didn't shoot the ball well, that was the first game where we have played well in a while,” Maestri said. “We played good defensively and we really hustled.”
Against the Owls, the key to earning a second straight win will be in controlling junior forward Carlos Monroe. The All-Sun Belt performer is averaging 15.8 points and 9.3 rebounds per game this year. The Owls also play at a higher tempo than FIU did, which will be a more exciting game to watch.
“This should be a very exciting game for our fans for a lot of reasons,” Maestri said. “FAU has a lot at stake and they play at a faster tempo, which is what we like to do as well. We just want to try to play well to give these seniors a good memory of their final game here.”
Following Wednesday's game, the Trojans will close the regular season on Saturday night at Middle Tennessee. Troy will likely not know where it's first round Sun Belt Tournament game will be until after the game on Saturday. Entering play this week there are five teams within one game of each other in the standings and the Trojans could square off with any of the five.
The Trojans (11-16, 4-12) will entertain the Owls of Florida Atlantic (13-16, 7-9) at 7:30 p.m. The game will be the last at Trojan Arena for four Troy seniors ? guards O'Darien Bassett and Jerome Odem and forwards Justin Jonus and Jarvis Acker.
“It's a tough night for me,” Trojans coach Don Maestri said. “We are always happy to honor the senior players, but we are also sad to see them leave. I can say that it has been a pleasure for me to coach these four guys. They have gone through some tough times over the last two years, have been through some heart-breaking losses, but they always come back ready to work the next day.
“I have always been impressed with the work ethic these guys have displayed. It is easy to come to work when things are going well, but to continue to battle when things are tough says a lot about a person's character.”
In addition to being senior night, the game is extremely important for FAU, which is coming off a win over Middle Tennessee, and needs another victory to secure a first round Sun Belt Conference Tournament game at home.
“FAU is playing very well and is coming off a big win, but they have to have this win to play that first tournament game at home,” Maestri said. “We know that we are going on the road for that first game, so the focus for us is to play well and to shoot the ball better.”
The Trojans snapped a five-game losing streak on Saturday night with a 66-59 victory over Florida International, but still struggled to shoot the ball, hitting a season-low five three-pointers in the game.
“Even though we didn't shoot the ball well, that was the first game where we have played well in a while,” Maestri said. “We played good defensively and we really hustled.”
Against the Owls, the key to earning a second straight win will be in controlling junior forward Carlos Monroe. The All-Sun Belt performer is averaging 15.8 points and 9.3 rebounds per game this year. The Owls also play at a higher tempo than FIU did, which will be a more exciting game to watch.
“This should be a very exciting game for our fans for a lot of reasons,” Maestri said. “FAU has a lot at stake and they play at a faster tempo, which is what we like to do as well. We just want to try to play well to give these seniors a good memory of their final game here.”
Following Wednesday's game, the Trojans will close the regular season on Saturday night at Middle Tennessee. Troy will likely not know where it's first round Sun Belt Tournament game will be until after the game on Saturday. Entering play this week there are five teams within one game of each other in the standings and the Trojans could square off with any of the five.
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