Troy Fails to Overcome San Francisco Shooting in 79-67 Defeat

Wednesday, November 23

San Francisco, Calif.

9 P.M.

Troy University

2-3

San Francisco

3-0

Troy

San Francisco

Troy Fails to Overcome San Francisco Shooting in 79-67 Defeat

11/24/2016 12:13:00 AM | Basketball (M)

Box Score

By: Russ Schaffer

Box Score

SAN FRANCISCO, California – Troy had season-best scoring nights from Wesley Person and DeVon Walker but fell on the road 79-67 to San Francisco on Wednesday night.

Person had 24 points fueled by five 3-pointers on the night, but only one other 3-pointer was connected on by Troy (2-3) as the team went just 6-of-19 (31.6 percent) from deep on the night.

While the Trojans struggled to connect from long range, San Francisco (3-0) hit key 3-pointers throughout the night en route to 12-of-28 (42.9 percent) shooting from behind the arc.

Ronnie Boyce, who came in averaging 29.5 points per game, was lethal once again as the guard had a game-high 25 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field and 4-of-8 shooting from 3-point range.

Troy kept the score difference under 10 points for the vast majority of the game but couldn't sustain long enough runs to cut into the San Francisco deficit.

The first half was a game of streaks amid quality play on both sides. San Francisco shot 48.4 percent (15-31) from the field in the opening frame while Troy was 42.4 percent (14-33).

A Juan Davis, Jr. jumper gave Troy a four-point advantage just over seven minutes into the game, but San Francisco responded with a 10-0 run to take the lead a 24-18 lead.

Undeterred, the Trojans got back on track with an 8-2 run of its' own to tie it up at 26, yet the Dons answered with a 10-4 run to go into halftime with a 36-30 lead.

DeVon Walker scored in double-digits for the first time in his Troy career, yet he was 3-of-6 from the free throw line and Troy shot just 50 percent (7-of-14) from the charity stripe on the evening.

Quotable
"Against a team that is so good offensively, you can't have those scoring droughts," head coach Phil Cunningham said. "We told our guys we were really proud of them in the first half because we had two chances to give up double-digit leads that would have given them the momentum, but we held them off. Our bench has been good this year, but we had some turnovers that really hurt what we were trying to do."

Stat of the Game
After committing a season-high 23 turnovers against Eastern Illinois on Monday, Troy cut that total by more than half after giving the ball up 11 times against San Francisco. Jeremy Hollimon had four turnovers and Daniel Peace had two, but no other player turned the ball over more than once on the night. The Dons had 13 total turnovers for the game.

Turning Point
A layup by Jordon Varnado with 3:52 to go after an offensive rebound cut the San Francisco lead to just seven at 69-62. Another basket by Varnado following a Dons' free throw brought the deficit to six, but the momentum couldn't be carried over as San Francisco ended the game on a 9-5 run to remain undefeated on the season. The Dons led for 30:11 in the contest.

Noteworthy
• The five 3-pointers by Wesley Person was just one shy of his career high. The junior hit six against Paine College on Dec. 17, 2015.

• After leading at half in the first two games of the season, Troy has now trailed at the break in the past three games.

• The Trojans have now had more points in the paint than the opposition in four of five games. The UAB game was the only exception as the Blazers won the rebounding differential by 12.

• Ronnie Boyce's night of 25 points were the most an individual has scored against Troy this season and was the first time an opposing player has scored more than 20 since Shawn Long of UL Lafeyette had 29 on Feb. 25, 2016.

Up Next
The Trojans will finish the three-game road trip with a matchup at Hawai'i on Friday night. For more information on Troy men's basketball, follow the team on social media at @TroyMensHoops or visit TroyTrojans.com.