Men’s Hoops Hosts Appalachian State on Faculty & Staff Appreciation Night

TROY, Alabama – The Troy men's basketball team closes out a quick two-game homestand by hosting Appalachian State Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in Trojan Arena. Troy Athletics will honor 243 student-athletes at halftime of the game for their inclusion in the 3.0/3.5 Club.

The first 500 fans through the door for the men's and women's doubleheader, which begins at 5:15 p.m., will receive a free Troy Athletics foam finger. Additionally, all Troy University faculty & staff will receive $5 tickets at the door when they present their current Troy ID card.

The game will be broadcast live on the Troy Sports Radio Network, with free coverage on TroyTrojans.com. Additionally, live video for the game will be available through Trojans All-Access by visiting TroyTrojans.com/Watch.

Troy will be looking to bounce back from a tough 66-58 loss to South Alabama on Tuesday. The Trojans led by five in the first half, but the Jaguars used a 21-8 run in the second half to steal the win.

Wesley Person led the Trojans (6-14, 1-8 Sun Belt) with 15 points, including four 3-pointers, while Jeremy Hollimon added 14 points and Jordon Varnado chipped in 10 points, pulled down seven rebounds and recorded three blocks. B.J. Miller provided a spark off the bench with seven points and four assists, while John Walton III had eight points and six rebounds.

The Trojans have led at the half in four of their nine Sun Belt Conference games, but have posted just a 1-3 mark in those games. The key factor in Tuesday's loss was 10 second-half turnovers by Troy that led directly to 11 South Alabama points.

Person leads the Trojans and ranks seventh in the Sun Belt averaging 16.5 points per game, while Varnado is eighth in scoring at 15.4 points per game and fourth with 7.7 rebounds per contest.

Hollimon has enjoyed a resurgence over the past four games with 55 points (13.8 per game), including three games in double figures. He is 16-of-18 (88.9 percent) from the free throw line in the four games and has hit five 3-pointers.

Troy slowed the pace against South Alabama and it led to the Trojans' lowest offense output and third-lowest offensive output by an opponent of the season.

Appalachian State (5-14, 3-5) suffered a gut-retching loss on Monday to rival Georgia Southern on a four-point play at the end of the game. Leading by three, 100-97, with five seconds remaining, the Mountaineers fouled Georgia Southern on a desperation 3-pointer, which went in, as did the free throw.

Frank Eaves leads the Sun Belt scoring at a 21.4 per game clip, while ranking fifth in the nation with 3.6 3-pointers made per game. Eaves accounts for over 30 percent of App State's offense as Ronshad Shabazz is the only other Mountaineer in double figures on the year with 10.9 points per game.

App State leads the all-time series 4-0 after winning both games last year by a combined eight points.

Following Thursday's game, the Trojans will take Saturday off before traveling to Arkansas next week for a double-dip against Little Rock on Thursday and Arkansas State on Saturday.

For more information on Troy men's basketball, follow the Trojans on Twitter and Instagram at @TroyMensHoops.

For more information on Troy Athletics, visit TroyTrojans.com. Fans can also find the Trojans on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat by searching for Troy Athletics.

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Players Mentioned

Jeremy Hollimon

BJ Miller

Wesley Person

Jordon Varnado

John Walton III