Maestri Gets 450th Win as Troy Rolls

Thursday, February 5

Troy, Ala.

7 p.m.

Troy University

Arkansas State

2/5/2009 6:00:00 AM | Basketball (M)

TROY ? Troy head coach Don Maestri posted his 450th career victory as the Troy Trojans defeated Arkansas State 85-77 in Sun Belt Conference action on Thursday night at Trojan Arena.

Maestri was unaware of the milestone until after the game when an announcement was read.

“I didn't know until a couple of the players told me. I think the numbers should get bigger the longer you coach. I think longevity is the reason the wins start to add up,” he said.

Troy (14-10, 9-3 SBC) with the victory earned its seventh consecutive win. It also guaranteed the team its best-ever finish in the Sun Belt. The loss drops Arkansas State to 13-9 on the year and 5-6 in SBC play.

“I was very pleased with our defensive effort, especially since we did not play very well offensively in the first half. I thought we really bothered them and forced them to turn it over a couple of times. In the second half we start to get the fast break going and we still maintained that good defense. Hazzard hit some big shots, Vogler did a great job of being the floor general and Delk had a good game with a couple of three's. We didn't finish up all that well, but a win is a win,” Maestri said.

Troy started the game with a 7-2 run that included a Richard Delk three ball and two free throws from Tom Jervis. Arkansas State answered right back with five straight points to tie it at seven with less than four minutes gone by in the first half.

Mario Telfair got an offensive rebound and a put back then Travis Lee found him for a dunk on a fast break to give the Trojans an 18-11 lead with 13:33 to go. Yima Chia-Kur made it 29-25 for Troy with 7:19 to go in the first half.

Arkansas State took their first lead with a lay-in by Eric McKinney, but Delk got it right back for the Trojans with a two of his own. Telfair made it a three-point Trojans lead with a two inside and Kenny Ware added a tip-in to push Troy's advantage out to five, 35-30 with 3:06 left in the opening half.

Delk made it a 10-0 Troy run with a tip-in before Shawn Morgan found the bucket. Antywan Jones made his presence felt with a fast break lay-up. McKinney closed out first half scoring with a put-back dunk and the Trojans on top by seven, 41-34.

The Red Wolves scored the first four points of the second half, but the Trojans answered with a 10-0 run that was capped by a Delk trey. Delk then found Telfair down low for a 53-38 Troy lead with 16:11 remaining. Telfair scored 17 points off the bench in 24 minutes and also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.

“Mario gave us a spark that we really needed in the first half. He scored a couple of times, rebounded of their big guy and he even dove on the ground one time,” Maestri said.

Arkansas State turned on the press and immediately forced a Troy turnover that they converted for two but Brandon Hazzard answered with back-to-back 3-pointers. Michael Vogler got a lay-up down the middle on the next time down leaving Troy with a 66-48 advantage with just more than 10 minutes to go.

Hazzard scored five straight over a 30 second span to give the Trojans a 20-point lead, 72-52. The reigning Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week finished the game with 14 points after a 1-for-6 first half.

Travis Lee and Delk buried back-to-back treys for the Trojans largest lead of the night 80-56 with 6:40 left in the contest. After a 7-0 ASU run, Delk countered with a three-point play, but Brandon Ayers came right back for the Red Wolves with a corner three-ball. Donald Boone's 3-pointer with 3:38 remaining pared Troy's lead down to 14 and a Mike Lance trey sliced even lower down to just 11 with two minutes remaining.

Delk led the way offensively for the Trojans with 18 points and six rebounds. Vogler chipped in with nine points and seven assists. Jervis and Jones both blocked three shots. McKinney finished with 16 points and eight rebounds, while Boone scored 15 points.

Troy out-rebounded Arkansas State 36-34, the second straight game they have won the battle on the glass.

The Trojans are in action next on Saturday when they visit Florida Atlantic. Troy defeated FAU 94-87 on December 18 in Troy. Barry McKnight will bring you all the action from courtside on the Troy ISP Network.