Troy Rolls Past Alabama State In 83-65 Victory

Sunday, December 4

Troy, Ala.

5:15 P.M.

Troy University

4-4

Alabama State

1-7

Alabama State

Troy

Troy Rolls Past Alabama State In 83-65 Victory

12/4/2016 8:24:00 PM | Basketball (M)

Box Score

By: Russ Schaffer

Box Score

TROY, Alabama – On a soggy Sunday evening, Troy made it rain against Alabama State en route to an 83-65 win in Trojan Arena.

The Trojans (4-4) used stifling defense all night long in holding the Hornets (1-6) to just 31.7 percent shooting (19-60) from the field on the night and 41.4 percent shooting (12-29) from the 3-point line.

Inversely, Troy capitalized on the steady defensive effort by having four different players score in double-digits. Jeremy Hollimon, after leading the team with 15 points against USF, opened the first half with 13 points and led the team again with 20 on the night.

After leading just 38-29 at the half, Hollimon, who had a career-high eight field goals on an 8-of-12 shooting night, helped Troy get the lead up to as high as 27 thanks in part to a 15-5 run the Trojans went on out of the break.

Alabama State was unable to get in a shooting rhythm, which was fueled by Troy's dominance down low. The Trojans outscored the Hornets 38-8 in the paint helped by Jordon Varnado's 14 points. Wesley Person had 13 points and Juan Davis, Jr. added 11.

Varnado was only 2-of-5 shooting, but he had the best free throw shooting night of his career in knocking down 9-of-12 shots from the line. His previous high was seven made free throws against Samford on Nov. 23, 2015. Troy was 16-of-24 (66.7 percent) from the charity stripe as a team.

Troy's big-scoring night wouldn't have been predicted by many at the start as the two teams were deadlocked at 3-3 up until a Hollimon 3-pointer broke the tie with 14:04 left in the first half.

Troy went on a 14-8 run to get the nine-point halftime lead, but Alabama State kept it close because of three different players scoring in double-digits. Torloft Thomas was the Hornets' leading scorer with 17 points. Reginald Gee added 15 and Rodney Simeon had 14.

Quotable
"It's been a long two weeks with all of the traveling we've endured and playing all of those games, but I thought our guys did a good job being mentally and physically prepared today," head coach Phil Cunningham said. "We weren't perfect early in the game offensively, but we were playing defense and we were rebounding. Then Jeremy (Hollimon) came in and really made a difference with his play in the first half and really sparked us."

Stat of the Game
Troy led for 38:36 in the win against Hawai'i, but that total was reversed when USF led for 38:48 in the Bulls' 80-74 win on Dec. 1. Troy got back to basics and once again paced the game by leading for 34:55 on the night. The Hornets trailed by just three with 5:23 to go in the first half, but the Trojans got the lead up to double-digits for good at the 18:40 mark of the second half.

Turning Point
Though Jordon Varnado had a career-night from the free-throw line, it was a 3-pointer by the forward that sparked Troy. The Trojans led by eight two minutes into the half before a high, arcing shot from behind-the-line by Varnado got the lead up to 45-32. Troy never looked back from there and led by at least 16 from the 16 minute mark through the end of the game.

Noteworthy
• Troy's 38 points in the paint were the second-most this season only behind the 64 scored against Toccoa Falls in the opener. The previous second-highest mark was 32 against Eastern Illinois in the second game of the year.

• Jeremy Hollimon's 20 points were just six behind his career-high 26 points against ULM on Jan. 21, 2016.

• Troy has started the season 4-4 for the fourth season in a row and every year in Phil Cunningham's tenure.

• The Trojans got nearly half of the night's scoring off of bench points. Troy had 42 bench points led by Jeremy Hollimon's 20 and 11 from Juan Davis, Jr.

Up Next
Troy will play its final home non-conference game of the year on Saturday against Alabama A&M at 2 p.m. That game will be followed by a "home" game in Dothan, Ala. on Dec. 14 against Point University before the team embarks on a four-game road stretch to close out non-conference play. For more information on Troy men's basketball, follow the team on social media at @TroyMensHoops or visit TroyTrojans.com.