Trojans Drop a Close One, 93-91

Thursday, January 6

Lafayette, LA

7:05 p.m.

Troy University

University of Louisiana at Lafayette

Photo by: Edward Fieder

1/6/2011 9:33:27 PM | Basketball (M)

Trojans Fall to 0-2 in league play.

By: Taylor Bryan

BOX SCORE

LAFAYETTE, La. – A game between two evenly-matched teams was just that – evenly matched, and in the end Troy had a chance, but missed as time expired dropping a 93-91 contest to Louisiana-Lafayette on Thursday night in Sun Belt action at the Cajundome.

An up-and-under jumper by Shawntez Patterson, then two by Will Weathers gave Troy (2-12, 0-2) an 83-82 lead, capping 9-2 run. Randell Daigle put the Cajuns back on top with two free throws at the 3:30 mark of the second half.

Troy and Louisiana-Lafayette went back-and-forth over the next two minutes before Raymone Andrews sank a free throw for a one-point lead. After a missed jumper by Bernard Toombs, Vernon Taylor fouled David Perez on a 3-point attempt.

Perez missed the first free throw, but sank the next two for a 90-87 lead with 44.2 seconds remaining. Toombs got a big dunk to make it 90-89 with 36 seconds left.

The game featured 14 lead changes – including 13 in the second half.

Travis Bureau got a lay-up as the Cajuns broke the Troy press. Taylor missed a trey and ULL came away with the rebound and a Trojans foul. Bureau split the pair of free throws and Weathers quickly answered with two for a 93-91 deficit with 13.3 seconds left.

Raymone Andrews turned it over give Troy one more chance with 10.5 left. After the ball was deflected from Regis Huddleston, the Trojans retained possession with 7.8 remaining in regulation. Weathers got a decent look, but missed a runner as time expired and Troy fell 93-91.

“It was a tough loss,” head coach Don Maestri said. “We played really well tonight. We did some good things on offense. We made some good stops when we had to. We missed a couple of critical free throws down the stretch, but we played good enough to win.”

Weathers finished with a career-high 32 points. It was the most for a Troy player this season and the largest total since former Trojan Brandon Hazzard scored 35 against Western Kentucky on February 14, 2009.

“[Weathers] had himself a night,” Maestri said. “He had a great night. He was exceptional. He kept us in the game when we got down, then got us the lead. It wasn't just his scoring though, he made some great passes.”

The sophomore from New Orleans added six assists and four rebounds in 38 minutes.

“It's my home state, so I was trying to put on a show,” Weathers said. “I wanted to come to Louisiana-Lafayette, but they didn't really recruit me, so I wanted to make them pay. We just have to put this loss behind us and get better because of it.”

After a hot start to the first half by the Cajuns, Troy tied the game at 13 on a baseline jumper by Taylor with three seven minutes gone by in the opening half. ULL countered with a 9-2 run to take a 22-15 advantage.

The deficit bounced between four and seven for the Trojans for most of the first half, but Taylor scored two to cut it to just three with 1:55 to go. Troy put together a flurrying series with consecutive baskets by Tim Owens and Taylor for its first lead at 47-46 with less than 40 seconds left in the opening half.

Huddleston came up with a big steal with 29 ticks left, but Weathers turned it over with 2.6 remaining and Troy went into the half with a 47-46 lead. The Trojans closed the half with an 8-2 run over the final 1:04 to take their first lead.

Weathers paced Troy in the first half with 15 points, while Taylor added 12 before the break. Taylor finished with 20 points and seven rebounds.

A highlight reel put-back dunk by Taylor gave the Trojans a 51-48 lead, but ULL countered with a 7-3 run to take the upper-hand 55-54.

ULL's Courtney Wallace converted a three-point play for the first second half lead of more than two points for either squad. Two free throws by Weathers cut it to 74-72 with 7:31 remaining in the contest.

The Ragin' Cajuns stretched their lead out to six, 80-74, with baskets on consecutive trips by J.J. Thomas and Bureau. Troy then sandwiched two by Bureau with a trey by Patterson and a pair at the charity stripe from Weathers to make it 82-79 with five minutes to go.

The loss dropped the Trojans to 1-4 in games decided by less than five points or less this season and 1-1 when shooting 50 percent or higher. Troy shot 54.8 percent from the field (34-of-62).

Toombs added 15 points and nine boards for Troy. Huddleston scored 11. Bureau scored 22 points to pace the Cajuns. Daigle had 17 off the bench.

Troy is in action next on Saturday, when it faces UALR in Little Rock. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 pm.