Trojan Rally Falls Short

Thursday, January 27

Troy, Ala.

7:00 p.m.

Troy University

University of South Alabama

Photo by: Kevin Glackmeyer

1/27/2011 11:07:49 PM | Basketball (M)

First Half Drought is Detrimental in the End

By: Taylor Bryan

BOX SCORE :: PHOTO GALLERY

TROY – Troy had a big lead early, but fell behind before the half and ultimately needed a big-time comeback before falling short to South Alabama 83-78 on Thursday night in Sun Belt action in Sartain Hall.

The Men of Troy trailed by as many as 14, but closed to within a point with just 1:02 remaining before suffering a critical turnover and ultimately suffering the defeat.

“It was a hard-fought game,” Trojans head coach Don Maestri said. “It was kind of a cyclical game. We started off well for the first eight or nine minutes of the first half, then we go on a cold spell, then we don't score a point for a [six] minute stretch and let them take a big lead. The fact that we didn't get knocked out by halftime was a positive thing.

“In the second half, we started playing pretty good basketball. At the end of the game there was some poor execution offensively with a couple of things. We had one mistake defensively at the end. I give them credit, they won the game. Overall, it's a disappointing loss because we have a good crowd at home and your pride is still on the line.”

The loss is the third in a row for the Trojans.

The Jags (9-10, 3-5) kept their hot shooting going in the second half and two free throws by Gary Redus left the Trojans trailing 65-53. Troy started to put together a run using consecutive scores by Bernard Toombs, then a lay-up by Will Weathers.

Following a technical foul on Allyn Cooks, Weathers sank two free throws leaving the Trojans (4-16, 2-6) behind 65-61 with 6:37 to go. The Trojans continued to pull closer and a dunk by Toombs left them down just three with 3:48 remaining.

Two by Augustine Rubit was followed by Regis Huddleston's fifth trey to close within two points, the closest Troy had been since the game was tied at 27 all with 4:33 left in the opening half.

Troy got a chance to tie or take the lead, but Weathers missed a short jumper and Toombs committed a foul sending Cooks to the line for two. He sank both and with 1:21 left, the Trojans trailed by four.

Taylor scored on a back door cut feed from Weathers and was fouled. He made it a three-point play, slicing the deficit to just a point with 63 ticks left. Taylor finished with 16 points for the night.

South Alabama was able to beat the Trojans down the floor and Rubit converted a three-point play to widened Troy's deficit to four once again.

On the subsequent possession, Huddleston had a 3-point attempt blocked by Tim Williams and Troy was forced to foul Cooks once again. Cooks sank two more free throws, but the Trojans quickly countered with a lay-up by Weathers.

The Trojans fouled once again, this time sending Williams to the foul line. He missed both, then South Alabama sent Toombs to the line for two. After two free throws from the senior big man, Troy once again tried for a steal.

Taylor was able to force Redus into a miscue setting up a game-tying attempt with 32.4 seconds left. Cunningham mishandled the ball under the rim, once again giving possession to the Jaguars with 23.6 seconds to go.

Troy struggled at the foul line all night and connected on just 14-of-25 free throw attempts (36 percent). Conversely, South Alabama was successful on 25-of-35 foul line attempts (71.4 percent).

One more time Cooks went to the line for USA, this time he missed his first try and sank the second for a 81-78 Jags lead with 20 seconds remaining. Huddleston forced a heavily-guarded trey and Rubit sealed the game with two from charity stripe with three seconds left.

South Alabama knocked down a pair of treys and Redus scored a run-out two before the Trojans finally got on the board in the first half with a foul line jumper from Steven Cunningham. Two free throws by Taylor left Troy down 8-7 with three and half minutes gone off the first half clock.

Cunningham set career highs for rebounds (6), assists (3) and blocks (2). He scored nine points.

Huddleston's 3-pointer of the first half capped a 22-2 run for the Trojans and gave them a 22-10 lead with 13 minutes left. Huddleston had 11 of Troy's 22 during the spurt. Huddleston finished with 17 for the game.

The Jags countered with a big run of their own, 12-1 to draw within a point, but Travis Lee tacked on a free throw to push it back to two. After a big blocked shot by Toombs, Lee knocked down a trey for the Trojans' first field goal in more than six minutes of play.

The trey put the Trojans up 27-22 with 5:56 to go. Javier Carter's put-back dunk and back-to-back 3-pointers from Redus gave South Alabama its first lead since it was 8-7 at the 16:31 mark.

USA would run its lead all the way out to 36-29 on consecutive treys by Cooks. Two free throws by Redus left Troy down by nine – its largest deficit to that point. The Trojans scored four straight, but Redus banked in his fifth trey as time expired to cap first half scoring with South Alabama up 41-33.

Redus' 19 points in the opening stanza led both teams. He finished with a career-best 32 points – the most points scored by an individual against the Trojans this season.

Weathers posted his third double-double of the season (17 points, 11 assists) and added seven rebounds. Toombs also registered a double-double, his sixth of the year, with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

The Trojans are in action again next on Saturday when they face ULM on the road in more Sun Belt action.