Trojans Run Out of Time, Fall to WKU

Thursday, February 13

Bowling Green, Ky.

7 p.m.

Troy University

8-15, 3-8SBC

Western Kentucky

17-8, 9-3SBC

TROY

WKU

Photo by: Chris Davis

2/13/2014 9:48:00 PM | Basketball (M)

Box Score

By: Joe St. Pierre

Box Score

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – A furious second half comeback came up just short as Troy (8-15, 3-8 SBC) fell to Western Kentucky (17-8, 9-3 SBC) 81-76 on Thursday night at E.A. Diddle Arena.

"We never could seem to make a timely shot until the end," said head coach Phil Cunningham. "Then all of a sudden we put the NFL 2-minute drill on and they started falling. Character is a word that we've been using to describe this group all season and they showed that tonight."

Troy trailed 74-61 with 1:59 to play, but used a 7-0 run, capped off by a deep 3-ball by Kelton Ford, to cut the lead to just six points. WKU would stop the run with a dunk, but Ford added another 3-pointer to shrink the lead to just five. Following a pair of Hilltopper free throws, Williams drained his sixth trey of the game to bring the lead down to four inside the final minute.

That was as close as Troy would get, as WKU's George Fant closed out the game with a pair of free throws with five seconds to go.

Williams led the Trojans with 22 points, including 6-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc. Antoine Myers finished with 15 points, while Kevin Thomas and Ford each scored 13.

The Hilltoppers led by as many as 16 points in the second half but the Trojans showed their toughness to stay competitive to the final buzzer.

Troy shot 41.7 percent (25-of-60) from the field and 39.1 percent (9-of-23) from beyond the arc. The Trojans were outrebounded 42-31.

Troy trailed by 11, 35-24, at the half after both teams struggled to score in the final minutes.

The Trojans head home to take on Sun Belt leaders Georgia State at 5 p.m. Coming to the game will also be the #NOLABound Tailgate Tour, beginning at 3:30 p.m in the practice gym. The game will be televised live on ESPN2.

Fans can keep up with all the action by following Troy men's basketball on Twitter at @TroyMensHoops and on Instagram at @TroyHoops.

For more information on all of Troy Athletics, fans can find the Trojans on Twitter and Instagram at @TroyAthletics, or on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/TroyAthletics.