Trojans Sink FIU, 69-62

Saturday, January 3

Troy, Ala.

7:30 p.m.

Troy University

Florida International

1/3/2009 6:00:00 AM | Basketball (M)

TROY ? The Troy Trojans sank almost everything from the line on Saturday night as they set a school record for free throw percentage and defeated FIU 69-62 in Sun Belt Conference basketball action at Trojan Arena.

Troy (6-9, 2-2 SBC) set a school record for free throw percentage by sinking 94.7 percent (18-of-19) of their attempts from the line. The mark broke a 31-year-old record set against Oglethrope in 1977.

Comparatively, FIU (5-11, 0-3 SBC) shot just 33 percent (5-of-15) from the charity stripe, but did out-rebound the Trojans 41-40.

“We were mighty good from the line in crucial times tonight and we had to step up in other areas since we were not playing a very good basketball game, otherwise, and the free throw line was one of those areas,” head coach Don Maestri said.

“Defensively we really battled against a very tough, physical team. Our kids really did a great job of battling against some really big guys. We told the team at halftime that if three or four of you will step up and make a play during the last 10 minutes, we will win this game. After the last two games we knew we had to do something to help us rebound better. We had a rebounding problem, but now we have a chemistry problem with new guys getting minutes together. Now we just have to get comfortable with that rotation,” he said.

Antywan Jones knocked down back-to-back jumpers to push Troy's lead back out to eight points, 57-49, with just more than four minutes to go. Jones made his first start since Dayton on December 2 and scored eight points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds in a career-high 27 minutes.

“Jones made some really big plays, especially getting some big rebounds. He is a vertical jumper. He makes good reads on where the ball is going and he is able to jump and get there, plus he has great hands,” Maestri said.

Troy traded pairs of free throws with Michael Dominguez three-pointers before Mario Telfair got a put back after an offensive rebound giving Troy a six point lead, 63-57 with less than two minutes remaining. Dominguez scored nine points and pulled down six rebounds.

Nikola Gacesa knocked down his first three-pointer in two attempts to cut the Trojans lead to 63-60 with 65 seconds remaining. Brandon Hazzard drained a step-back jumper from the foul line with 35 seconds to make it a two possession game, 65-60.

After a miss and a Troy rebound, FIU resorted to fouling with 20 seconds remaining and Hazzard was the first Trojan sent to the line. He knocked down a pair to make it a seven point game. Hazzard led Troy in scoring with 16 points and also had five rebounds.

Nick Taylor hit two free throws of his own before the Golden Panthers sent Richard Delk to the line. The junior hit both to give the Trojans the final advantage of 69-62 and a victory.

Alex Galindo and Dominguez hit back-to-back three's for FIU to open up the first half, but Tom Jervis nailed two free throws and picked up a put-back to leave the score at 6-4 early in the first half.

Galindo was one of four FIU players in double-figures as he led his team with 14 points on four three-pointers. Marlon Bright also scored double-digits with 11 points.

Delk went on a scoring tear over the next three minutes scoring the next seven Trojans points, capped by a three-pointer from the top of the key with 12:28 remaining in the first half to cut FIU's lead to two points, 13-11. Delk finished with 11 points and five rebounds.

Hazzard hit his first three of the night with 9:05 on the clock in the first half to cut the FIU advantage back to two points and Jervis tied the game at 16 with a baby hook in the lane with seven minutes to go.

Jervis followed up a Jones miss with a put-back dunk to give the Trojans the lead 20-18. It was the first time the Trojans held a lead in the game since the opening 90 seconds of the game.

Hazzard added a fast break lay-up to push the Trojans' lead out to 24-19 with four minutes remaining, but the Golden Panthers battled back with a pair of Bright lay-ups and a Freddy Asprilla tip-in to re-take the lead at 25-24 with 2:13 to go. Asprilla finished up with a double-double of a game-high 15 rebounds and 13 points.

Telfair drained a pair of free throws to give Troy back the lead and after a FIU lay-up, and Hazzard hit another three from deep for a 28-27 Trojans advantage.

Vogler drew a foul and hit a pair from the charity stripe to close out the first half with the Trojans leading 32-27.

Troy opened up the second half with back-to-back buckets from Hazzard and Telfair, but FIU answered back with four points of their own before Vogler knocked down two more free throws for a 38-31 Trojans advantage.

Next, FIU went on a 9-0 run capped by Bright's three-pointer with 14:18 to go in the second half tied the game, but Kenny Ware got a runner in the lane to go to give the Trojans back the lead, 40-38.

Vogler connected with Jones for a highlight reel alley-oop dunk with 11:45 remaining to give the Trojans a four-point advantage, 44-40. Vogler finished the game with eight points, five rebounds, four steals and two assists.

Hazzard connected on a three-pointer and then the next trip down found Jervis for an alley-oop slam. The dunk capped an 8-0 Trojans run and gave them their largest lead of the night at eight points. Jervis tallied 10 points and six rebounds along with a game-high four blocks. Telfair also scored in double-figures for Troy with 14 points and five rebounds.

“We were not playing with a lot of spark or energy in the first half and those dunks really gave us some spark,” Maestri said.

The Trojans committed just seven turnovers and forced FIU into 13, with eight Troy steals. Troy scored 14 points off those turnovers and outscored the Golden Panthers 10-0 in fast break opportunities.

Troy is in action next on Monday night when they host William Carey College at 7 pm at Trojan Arena. One lucky fan will be given the opportunity to win five thousand dollars at halftime of the contest.