Troy University Athletics
Troy University
Florida Atlantic
Troy Keeps Pace in SBC Race
2/21/2010 4:00:00 AM | Basketball (M)
TROY - Troy earned an 86-80 victory over FAU on Saturday night and kept pace with Middle Tennessee in the east division race.
The victory also kept Troy in the running for the overall league crown. The Trojans along with MTSU and North Texas are all tied atop the Sun Belt standings with identical 11-5 records. Troy owns the tiebreaker with the Blue Raiders by virtue of a season sweep.
The Trojans are glad to be where they are in the standings and they have great respect for their final two opponents - UALR and Arkansas State.
"We feel great because of the fact that we were able to maintain the spot that we were in," head coach Don Maestri said. "We've got two games left. We've got to go on the road. I think everybody realizes that you can always get beat on the road."
The Trojans were able to earn the victory on "Senior Night" for the eighth consecutive season - including all five years of Sun Belt membership.
"It was a great victory for our basketball team, especially for the five seniors," Maestri said. "Senior Night is always kind of an emotional night, when you realize that those guys are not going to be on this court anymore.
"I'm really proud of the fact that they got to finish in front of their parents and in front of a good crowd. It was a special night."
Both Troy and FAU started hot and sprinted through the first 10 minutes with Troy holding a slight advantage, 20-19. A three-point play by Brett Royster made it 25-22 in favor of the Owls with 8:42 left.
The see-saw game continued throughout the course of the first half, but a 3-pointer by Richard Delk, then another by Michael Vogler as time expired left the Trojans on top 41-34 at the break.
Florida Atlantic opened up the second half with a 14-8 run closing to within a point of the Trojans. A three-point play by Alex Tucker tied the game at 51, but Bernard Toombs gave Troy the lead once again with two at the charity stripe.
Delk scored four straight baskets for the Trojans forcing FAU coach Mike Jarvis to burn a timeout. Following the surge, Troy had widened its lead out to seven points, 61-54. The senior from Jackson, Tenn. scored 21 points on the night.
The Trojans took their lead to double-digits on a three ball from Vogler. His triple made it 73-61 with exactly five minutes left.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Shavar Richardson narrowed the Trojans' lead to six points and a dunk by Royster cut it down to just five. Troy withstood a career night from the FAU sophomore, Richardson, who totaled 31 points on 6-of-12 3-pointers.
The Owls refused to go away, knocking down another pair of treys. The next two came from Alex Tucker and Greg Gantt. Luckily, Troy was able to sandwich two scores of its own by Yamene Coleman and Antywan Jones and it maintained a 79-75 lead with 1:36 left.
Brandon Hazzard scored two at the stripe with 61 seconds left, but the Trojans fouled Richardson on a 3-point attempt on the next possession. The sophomore sank all three attempts slicing the lead to three and a Trojan turnover setup FAU with the ball with 41 seconds left down by three.
Tough Troy defense forced a missed trey by the Owls, and after a foul, Hazzard split a pair for a four point lead. Raymond Taylor raced the floor for two points after the missed foul shot making it 82-80 in favor of Troy with 9.8 seconds remaining.
The Trojans got the subsequent pass in to Hazzard and the senior from Atlanta drained two at the line for an 84-80 lead with 7.3 on the clock. Hazzard finished with 17 points in his final game in Trojan Arena.
The Owls' Taylor missed a pull-up 3-point attempt and Jones grabbed the rebound for the Trojans with less than a second on the clock. He sank two free throws to seal the victory for Troy.
Three other Trojans in addition to Delk and Hazzard reached double figures. Vogler scored 18, while Coleman added 12 and Taylor tallied 10 points. Vogler added seven rebounds and six assists.
"The seniors came through," Taylor said. "Our seniors came through. We gave the crowd what they wanted. We had energy. We came out fighting. Everyone was enthused. It was there tonight - the team was there tonight."
Troy shot a season-best 64.2 percent (34-of-53) from the field. It also out-rebounded the Owls 35-to-24.
The Trojans close out the regular season with road dates at UALR and Arkansas State. The battle of Trojans is schedule for 7 pm on Thursday in Little Rock.
