Troy Falls to Florida Atlantic in OT

Thursday, December 16

Troy, Ala.

7:00 p.m.

Troy University

Florida Atlantic University

Photo by: Edward Fieder

12/16/2010 11:14:17 PM | Basketball (M)

Trojans Fall to 0-1 in Sun Belt play.

By: Taylor Bryan

BOX SCORE :: PHOTO GALLERY

TROY – Florida Atlantic's Raymond Taylor scored 10 points in overtime to help knock off Troy 82-77 in the Sun Belt opener for both teams on Thursday night in Sartain Hall.

The Trojans (1-8, 0-1) led by four at halftime, but needed a 3-pointer from Regis Huddleston to knot the game at 68 with 29 seconds left in regulation. Troy was able to force a miss by FAU's Greg Gantt with four remaining and send the game into overtime.

In the extra period, Taylor went off, knocking down a pair of 3-pointers and sinking all four free throw attempts while the Trojans went just 3-of-11 from the field. 24 points was a season high for the sophomore. He scored 22 points in the second half and overtime.

“The games that we have been in like this, that we have lost, the other team had somebody on their team play exceptionally well,” Troy head coach Don Maestri said. “Mississippi State had the kid come in during overtime and hit shots. At Miami (Ohio), they had a kid hit three three's in a row in the last five minutes. Tonight, this kid (Raymond Taylor) is shooting 20-something percent from the three and he hits six three's. So, the credit, instead of people thinking, 'Oh, they aren't winning', the other team is doing some fantastic things to win the game.

“Don't get me wrong, it's still a terrible feeling to lose a game like this when you play pretty doggone well, but at the same time, you've got to understand that the other kid had a phenomenal night, [Raymond Taylor], he hit some shots. But we didn't break and we kept coming back and would answer.”

Still despite not shooting well, Troy had a chance to tie with five seconds left in overtime, but Will Weathers' 3-point attempt rimmed out leading the Trojans to foul once more.

Taylor connected on two more with just two seconds on the clock for the final margin.

Troy had to battle back from a strong start to the second half by the Owls. The Trojans led 39-35 at the break, but Florida Atlantic opened the second half with a 10-0 run to take a six-point lead with 15:56 left.

The lead was the first for FAU (7-5, 1-0) since it was on top 5-3 with barely two minutes gone in the opening half.

Troy countered with an 11-0 run of its own capped by a Vernon Taylor lay-up. Taylor finished with 11 points and a career-best nine rebounds.

“I thought one of the really good signs the team showed tonight was when we came out with a four-point lead at half and they scored 10 consecutive points, when they score the 10 consecutive points, we are now down by six,” Maestri said. “They had a 10-0 run. After that particular timeout, when they made the 10-0 run, our guys were determined that they were going to get themselves back in the game and darn if they didn't end up coming back and eventually taking the lead. That's a real good sign.”

A 3-pointer by Huddleston gave the Trojans their largest advantage of the second half – 57-51 with 9:04 remaining.

The game would go back-and-forth before Huddleston's tying trey sent the game to overtime.

Six Trojans scored at least nine points, led by Levan Patsatsia with 21. He recorded his second career double-double, adding 10 rebounds. Huddleston finished with 12, while Shawntez Patterson added 10 points and seven boards.

For the Owls, Brett Royster scored 13 points with nine rebounds and seven blocked shots. Gantt and Shavar Richardson added 12 points each, respectively.

The loss extended Troy's losing streak to eight games, tying the program's worst start in the Division I era.

The Trojans lost eight games to begin the 1994-95 season before recording back-to-back wins to improve to 2-8. Troy also began the 1993-94 season 1-8 after starting 0-6.

Additionally, the defeat dropped Troy to 1-5 all-time in Sun Belt openers. The lone victory came a season ago when the Trojans knocked off New Orleans 78-76 to open league play.

The Trojans are in action next on Saturday when they host Belmont. Tip-off is set for 11 am in Sartain Hall.