Troy University Athletics
Trojans Battle MTSU To Wire, Fall In Final Seconds
3/9/2008 6:00:00 AM | Basketball (M)
MOBILE, Ala. - Troy University and Middle Tennessee State University hooked up a good ol' fashion chess match Sunday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament at the Mitchell Center.
Unfortunately for the Trojans, Nigel Johnson's only basket proved to be the difference in a 65-59 Middle Tennessee victory, ending the Trojans season.
"We have to give congratulations to Middle Tennessee," head coach Don Maestri said. "To play against that style of offense requires as much mental discipline as physical ability. On the flip side, our guys have been known for running and gunning, to have the discipline to run this offense is unbelievable."
As the public address announcer announced to the crowd there was one minute to play in the contest, Johnson drained his only shot - a 3-pointer - from the top of the key to give Middle Tennessee a 62-59 lead with just 59.1 seconds remaining in the game. The Blue Raiders then drained three free throws and held Troy without a basket for the remaining 59 seconds to steal the victory.
"You have to make big shots and defend against guys that are bigger than you in this offense," Maestri said. "I don't know what got into Nigel [Johnson], he was 0-for-6 before he hit that shot. It made me want to go collect my social security checks."
Leading with 3:41 to play in the contest, Troy fell behind on a pair of Desmond Yates' free throws with 3:31 remaining in the contest - giving the Blue Raiders a 55-54 lead late in the game. The lead was extended to 57-54 with 2:42 remaining in the game on a Demetrius Green pull-up six-footer on the baseline, before the Trojans were able to answer.
Sophomore Michael Vogler drained a long 3-pointer from the top of the key, coming off a screen from Justin Jonus, to tie contest at 57-all with 2:19 to play in the contest. After a Trojans' timeout, Middle Tennessee took a 60-57 lead on a Kevin Kanaskie 3-pointer from the right wing with 1:51 to play.
Troy's O'Darien Bassett trimmed the lead to just one after hitting a pair of free throws with 1:28 remaining and setting the stage for the final minute of play.
The Trojans came out and played the same style of basketball that won their first round game at Lafayette, slowing the tempo and running the shot clock down on every possession.
"The Lafayette win helped," Maestri said. "We knew when we got down, we knew that we could come back when were down in the first half. To get down as much as we did and still be ahead at halftime, that is amazing."
After falling behind 6-0 to open the contest, the Trojans scored their first nine points on free throws before Bassett drained a 3-pointer with 9:50 remaining in the first half. The basket trimmed the Middle Tennessee lead to 19-12 and eventually ignited a 16-9 run that saw the Trojans tie the game at 28-all in the first half with 3:15 remaining. The Trojans took their first lead of the game with 1:58 to play in the first half on a Mario Telfair dunk, taking a 30-28 lead, and rode that momentum to the locker room for a 35-33 advantage.
Middle Tennessee (16-14) was led by Yates with 19 points, while Kanaskie and Green added 17 each in the Blue Raiders' victory.
Troy was led by Bassett with 17 points, while Vogler and Jonus added 15 each in the loss.
Troy ends the season 12-19. The loss ends the career of Jonus, Bassett, Jarvis Acker and Jerome Odem at Troy University.
