Trojans Return Home for Senior Night with Sun Belt Tournament on the Line

TROY, Alabama – The Troy men's basketball team hosts its final home game of the season on Saturday afternoon as it welcomes Georgia State to Trojan Arena. The Trojans and Panthers are scheduled to tip at 4:15 with senior day festivities for Kevin Thomas and Musa Abdul-Aleem slated to start at 4:00 p.m.

Among teams eligible for the postseason, Troy (10-17, 5-13) sits in 10^th place and enters a game behind both Texas State and Arkansas State in the Sun Belt standings. In order to have the opportunity to make the Sun Belt tournament, the Trojans must win their last two games.

Troy is looking to close out the season at home on a positive note after back-to-back losses, first to UALR at home and then to Texas State on the road.

Last time out, Troy trailed by as many as 12 points against Texas State in the second half before it fought relentlessly to chip away at the lead. Troy fought to make it a three-point game with 34.2 seconds to play, in thanks to a trey by Musa Abdul-Aleem, but the Trojans were unable to take the final lead as they fell to Texas State, 67-61, at Strahan Coliseum on Thursday night.

Four Trojans earned double figures as Troy was led by John Walton III, who poured in a game-high 16 points, 14 of which came in the second half, as he shoot 6-of-9 from the floor. Kevin Thomas added 14 for the Trojans, shooting 6-of-10 on the night while reeling in a team-high eight rebounds, five on the offensive end of the court.

Wesley Person tallied 13 points, shooting 6-of-14 on the night, 2-of-3 in the second half while Abdul-Aleem chipped in 11 points, in large thanks to his three treys on the night.

Georgia State (19-9, 12-5) is led by Ryan Harrow and R.J. Hunter, who lead the conference in points per game with 20.5 and 20.0, respectively. Hunter ranks first in the Sun Belt in free throw percentage, 86.8 percent, and second in steals right ahead of Kelton Ford, with 2.0 per game.

Georgia State is coming off a 92-83 loss at UALR, which snapped its four-game win streak, in large thanks to UALR's hot 56.7 shooting from the floor in the second half.

Harrow paced the Panthers in the loss with 22 points, while Hunter added 21. Markus Crider, who leads the Sun Belt in field goal percentage right ahead of Troy's Thomas, poured in 18 points while Curtis Washington chipped in 12 .

In the Trojans first meeting with the Panthers earlier in the season, hot shooting by Abdul-Aleem and Person wasn't enough as Troy fell to Georgia State, 77-72.

Abdul-Aleem paced the Trojans with a career-high 33 points as he shot 56.3 percent (9-of-16) from the floor, including 7-of-11 from 3-point range. Person shot 50 percent from the floor on his way to 17 points, in large part to his 5-of-9 showing from downtown. Ford also tallied double-figures as he chipped in 10 points.

For more information on Troy Athletics, visit TroyTrojans.com. As always, fans can also find the Troy men's basketball team on Twitter at @TroyMensHoops, Instagram at @TroyHoops Facebook, and YouTube by searching Troy Athletics.

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Players Mentioned

Musa Abdul-Aleem

Kelton Ford

Wesley Person

Kevin Thomas

John Walton III