Troy University Athletics
Thursday, February 19
Miami, Fla.
6 p.m.
Troy University
86
at
87
Florida International
Streak Ends, Troy Falls to FIU in Final Seconds
2/19/2009 6:00:00 AM | Basketball (M)
MIAMI ? The Troy Trojans battled back from a 13 point deficit late in the second half, but fell 87-86 to the Golden Panthers of FIU on Thursday night in Sun Belt action at U.S. Century Bank Arena.
The loss ends Troy's Sun Belt best 10 game winning streak and is the Trojans' first loss since a January 10 defeat at the hands of Louisiana Lafayette.
Troy (17-11, 12-4 SBC) did all they could do to get back into the game, FIU (11-17, 6-9 SBC) got a desperation 3-pointer from the corner by Alex Galindo on a busted play to give them the victory. Galindo scored 17 points for the game.
“That's the part that is the toughest. We played great defense on the play, they could not even run the play they called. It was a desperation shot and Galindo just happened to be in the corner to hit it. Sometimes those things happen in basketball. The same things happened to FIU against South Alabama last week,” head coach Don Maestri said.
“I'm really happy with the defense we played late in the game. It really was a phenomenal comeback. We took back the double-digit lead and actually took the lead. We have had so many good things happen, but now we get to get ready to play our next game. It is hard to lose when you have been winning so much.”
The Golden Panthers held three-time reigning Sun Belt Player of the Week Brandon Hazzard to just eight points on 3-of-6 shooting.
FIU led 80-70 with six minutes to go, but Tom Jervis got two in transition and a pair of free throws to pare the lead to six points, 80-74 with five minutes left in the game.
Josh Williams nailed a three with 4:20 left to make it 82-77, but Jervis missed a pair at the line and Freddy Asprilla capitalized on the miss by splitting a pair for a six point lead.
Richard Delk got a dunk and Hazzard's first 3-pointer of the game cut the lead down to just one point 83-82 with 2:45 on the clock.
Josue Soto split a pair to give FIU a two-point lead at 84-82, but with 1:02 left Mike Vogler tied the game at the line. The Panthers turned it over on the subsequent possession, and Vogler found Jervis down low for two and the lead.
FIU called timeout with 20 seconds left to set up the eventual game-winning play.
Delk's first 3-pointer gave the Trojans their first lead of the night, 13-12 with 16 minutes left in the first half as both teams started the game with a quick pace. Galindo gave the Golden Panthers back the lead with a pair from the free throw line.
Delk hit back-to-back three's to tie the game at 22 points, the junior from Jackson, Tenn. scored 13 of Troy's first 22 points.
Tremayne Russell got a fast break dunk to open up a five point FIU lead, 30-25. Williams knocked down two from the stripe to cut the lead to 30-27.
Jervis sank two free throws to make it a five-point game with 1:30 to go, but Russell Hicks got a put-back for two points to make it 45-38 in favor of FIU with a minute to go in the opening half.
Vogler hit a deep trey to cut the deficit to four points. Russell hit two free throws to close out the half with FIU on top 47-41.
Galindo hit a rainbow three from the top of the key to open the second half, but Vogler came right back with two down low. Jervis got two down low on the next possession to make it 50-45.
Antywan Jones' dunk cut the Troy deficit to just three points 57-54, but FIU answered with a free throw and bucket by Cedric Essola to run it back to six points. Back-to-back buckets including a run-out dunk by Galindo made it 64-54 in favor of the Golden Panthers with 12:12 to go.
Russell got two more for the Panthers to make their lead 13 points, the largest of the night. Telfair drained two free throws for the Trojans to cut it to 11 with nine minutes to go. Russell finished the game with 14 points and four rebounds.
Michael Dominguez tied a career-high with 24 points and six 3-pointers to lead FIU. Asprilla scored 16 points with eight rebounds. Hicks added 10 points and four rebounds.
Delk's 24 points paced the Trojans, while Jervis added 15 points and Vogler 14 points with six assists.
Troy shot 50 percent (30-of-60) from the field, but FIU shot 50.8 percent (31-of-61).
The Trojans are in action next a week from today when they travel to Lafayette, La. to face the Ragin' Cajuns.
The loss ends Troy's Sun Belt best 10 game winning streak and is the Trojans' first loss since a January 10 defeat at the hands of Louisiana Lafayette.
Troy (17-11, 12-4 SBC) did all they could do to get back into the game, FIU (11-17, 6-9 SBC) got a desperation 3-pointer from the corner by Alex Galindo on a busted play to give them the victory. Galindo scored 17 points for the game.
“That's the part that is the toughest. We played great defense on the play, they could not even run the play they called. It was a desperation shot and Galindo just happened to be in the corner to hit it. Sometimes those things happen in basketball. The same things happened to FIU against South Alabama last week,” head coach Don Maestri said.
“I'm really happy with the defense we played late in the game. It really was a phenomenal comeback. We took back the double-digit lead and actually took the lead. We have had so many good things happen, but now we get to get ready to play our next game. It is hard to lose when you have been winning so much.”
The Golden Panthers held three-time reigning Sun Belt Player of the Week Brandon Hazzard to just eight points on 3-of-6 shooting.
FIU led 80-70 with six minutes to go, but Tom Jervis got two in transition and a pair of free throws to pare the lead to six points, 80-74 with five minutes left in the game.
Josh Williams nailed a three with 4:20 left to make it 82-77, but Jervis missed a pair at the line and Freddy Asprilla capitalized on the miss by splitting a pair for a six point lead.
Richard Delk got a dunk and Hazzard's first 3-pointer of the game cut the lead down to just one point 83-82 with 2:45 on the clock.
Josue Soto split a pair to give FIU a two-point lead at 84-82, but with 1:02 left Mike Vogler tied the game at the line. The Panthers turned it over on the subsequent possession, and Vogler found Jervis down low for two and the lead.
FIU called timeout with 20 seconds left to set up the eventual game-winning play.
Delk's first 3-pointer gave the Trojans their first lead of the night, 13-12 with 16 minutes left in the first half as both teams started the game with a quick pace. Galindo gave the Golden Panthers back the lead with a pair from the free throw line.
Delk hit back-to-back three's to tie the game at 22 points, the junior from Jackson, Tenn. scored 13 of Troy's first 22 points.
Tremayne Russell got a fast break dunk to open up a five point FIU lead, 30-25. Williams knocked down two from the stripe to cut the lead to 30-27.
Jervis sank two free throws to make it a five-point game with 1:30 to go, but Russell Hicks got a put-back for two points to make it 45-38 in favor of FIU with a minute to go in the opening half.
Vogler hit a deep trey to cut the deficit to four points. Russell hit two free throws to close out the half with FIU on top 47-41.
Galindo hit a rainbow three from the top of the key to open the second half, but Vogler came right back with two down low. Jervis got two down low on the next possession to make it 50-45.
Antywan Jones' dunk cut the Troy deficit to just three points 57-54, but FIU answered with a free throw and bucket by Cedric Essola to run it back to six points. Back-to-back buckets including a run-out dunk by Galindo made it 64-54 in favor of the Golden Panthers with 12:12 to go.
Russell got two more for the Panthers to make their lead 13 points, the largest of the night. Telfair drained two free throws for the Trojans to cut it to 11 with nine minutes to go. Russell finished the game with 14 points and four rebounds.
Michael Dominguez tied a career-high with 24 points and six 3-pointers to lead FIU. Asprilla scored 16 points with eight rebounds. Hicks added 10 points and four rebounds.
Delk's 24 points paced the Trojans, while Jervis added 15 points and Vogler 14 points with six assists.
Troy shot 50 percent (30-of-60) from the field, but FIU shot 50.8 percent (31-of-61).
The Trojans are in action next a week from today when they travel to Lafayette, La. to face the Ragin' Cajuns.
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