Men’s Hoops Opens Two-Game Homestand Thursday

TROY, Alabama – Coming off a thrilling road victory, the Troy men's basketball team returns to Trojan Arena Thursday night for a Sun Belt Conference showdown with Georgia Southern; tip is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Troy (7-16, 2-10 Sun Belt) rallied for a 71-70 victory at Arkansas State on Saturday as John Walton III scored five of his 21 points over the final two minutes to spark an 8-2 Trojan run. Walton is averaging 18.3 points and 8.7 rebounds over the last three games, while upping his season scoring average to 10.3 points per game.

The first 500 fans through the doors for the men's and women's doubleheader, which begins at 5:15 p.m., will receive a free Troy Athletics drink koozie. Additionally, the Troy softball team will have a pitching exhibition at halftime and it is Greek Night for Troy students.

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.

Wesley Person scored a game-high 22 points in the victory at Arkansas State and buried a trio of 3-pointers to move into eighth-place in Troy's DI history with 145 treys in his young career. Person is seventh in the Sun Belt scoring at a 16.8 per-game clip, while ranking 25^th nationally with 3.1 3-pointers made per game.

Point guard Daniel Peace played a big part in Troy's victory as he scored four points down the stretch, including a pair of free throws in the final seconds to extend Troy's lead to three. He is fifth in the league averaging 1.6 steals per game and seventh with 3.6 assists per game.

Jordon Varnado will look to get back on track Thursday as he has scored just 13 points over the past two games. The Trojan freshman is averaging 14.3 points and 7.5 rebounds per game and dropped 18 points with nine rebounds in the first meeting against Georgia Southern.

The Eagles (10-12, 6-6) won that first meeting by five, 93-88, in overtime after the Trojans went on a 13-2 run over the final five minutes of regulation to force the extra period. Person led the Trojans with 19 points, while freshman B.J. Miller scored 17 points and Walton added 14 around Varnado's 18 points.

Georgia Southern enters Thursday's tilt on a modest three-game winning streak after sweeping a homestand against UT Arlington and Texas State in addition to a road win at Arkansas State. Two of Georgia Southern's top three scorers are freshmen -- Tookie Brown leads the Eagles with 18.2 points and is a 37.4 percent 3-point shooter, while Ike Smith is third on the team with 12.4 points and a team-high 4.9 rebounds per game.

The Eagles lead the Sun Belt and rank 23^rd nationally with 8.2 steals per game and are second in the league and 12^th nationally with a +3.8 turnover margin. Mike Hughes leads the Sun Belt and ranks 24th nationally with 2.14 steals per game, while Brown is second in the Sun Belt and 40^th nationally with 1.91 per game. Georgia Southern is just 3-8 on the road this year and 2-4 in road Sun Belt games.

After Thursday's contest, Troy will host Georgia State on Saturday afternoon at 4:15 p.m. in the second game of a doubleheader with the Troy women. Both teams will be honoring breast cancer awareness and the first 300 fans in attendance will receive a pink rally towel. Additionally, there will be silent auction items for fans to bid on with the proceeds going to breast cancer research.

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Players Mentioned

BJ Miller

Daniel Peace

Wesley Person

Jordon Varnado

John Walton III