Career Night From Davis, Jr. Not Enough As Troy Falls 86-82 To Georgia Southern

Saturday, January 7

Statesboro, Ga.

4 P.M.

Troy University

8-8, 0-2SBC

Georgia Southern

9-6, 2-0SBC

Troy

Georgia Southern

Career Night From Davis, Jr. Not Enough As Troy Falls 86-82 To Georgia Southern

1/7/2017 6:59:00 PM | Basketball (M)

Box Score

By: Russ Schaffer

Box Score (PDF)

STATESBORO, Georgia – Juan Davis, Jr. scored a career-high 21 points, but it wasn't enough as Troy fell to Georgia Southern 86-82 on Saturday afternoon.

Davis, Jr. was crucial for the Trojans (8-8) all night as he drained a career-high five 3-pointers on 5-of-6 shooting from deep, yet it was Tookie Brown of Georgia Southern (9-6) who stole the show on his home court.

Brown, who came into the game averaging the third-most points in the conference at 16.2 points per game, poured in 24 points against the Trojans fueled by 11-of-13 shooting on free throws.

Though Troy trailed by as much as 15, the Trojans continued to rally throughout the contest. The outcome looked bleak when Brown hit two free throws with 2:23 to go to give the Eagles a 10-point lead, but Jeremy Hollimon and Davis, Jr. wouldn't let the win come easily.

A 3-pointer by Wesley Person and two free throws by Kevin Baker cut the deficit to five with 1:15 left. Two more free throws by Hollimon got it down to four with 57 seconds on the clock.

Georgia State didn't score a field goal in the final three minutes. Instead, the Eagles used accurate free throw shooting throughout the game and down to stretch to put it away. Georgia State made eight free throws in the final three minutes and shot 84 percent (21-25) from the charity stripe in the game.

Davis, Jr. hit his fifth 3-pointer with 20 seconds left to cut it to 84-80, but Troy didn't have enough time to complete the comeback.

Hollimon, who was just behind Davis, Jr. with 20 points on the night, scored a layup with 10:10 left in the first half to give Troy a five-point lead. That lead would be the biggest of the night and would be one of few leads for the Trojans in the game.

The Eagles tied it up less than two minutes later. Hollimon gave Troy the lead again on a 3-pointer with 6:44 in the first half, but that ultimately was the last time the Trojans led in the game.

Georgia Southern came with a balanced attack that Troy couldn't answer. Five players for the Eagles were in double-digit scoring. The Eagles shot 46.8 percent (29-62) from the field compared to Troy's 42.9 percent (27-64) from the field.

Quotable
"The start of the second half is when the game really got away from us," head coach Phil Cunningham said. "They were 2-for-16 on 3-pointers in the first half, but we knew they wouldn't continue to shoot like that. We knew they were going to continue to shoot threes and we knew they had guys who could hit them. They hit some early in the second half and we were playing catch up the rest of the way."

Stat of the Game
Troy had 19 turnovers that proved costly in the loss at South Alabama on Monday. That total dropped to 13 on Saturday against Georgia Southern, but turnovers still proved costly considering the Eagles only had six on the night. The six turnovers tied for the fewest amount an opponent has had against Troy on the season. Wesley Person and Alex Hicks both had three turnovers each.

Turning Point
With five seconds left in the first half, Georgia Southern called a timeout leading 35-31. After a set play, Coye Simmons got loose and slammed home an uncontested dunk to give the Eagles the 37-31 halftime lead. It would be the start of a 20-9 run that got Georgia State up to a 15-point lead at the 15:21 mark of the second half. The first two plays out of the break were a 3-pointer by Mike Hughes and a dunk by Ike Smith that increased the lead to 11 just 41 seconds in.

Noteworthy
• Ike Smith came into the game averaging 19.9 points per game, the best in the conference, but scored only 13 on the night against Troy. That total tied the third-lowest amount he has scored this season.

• The loss marked the second straight game in which Troy trailed at half. The Trojans led at half for seven straight games prior to the South Alabama matchup.

• Jordon Varnado had eight points and six rebounds, but the forward fouled out with 4:44 left in the game.

Up Next
The Trojans will remain in Georgia with a visit to Atlanta on Monday to take on Georgia State. Tipoff will be at 7 p.m. For more information on Troy men's basketball, follow the team on social media at @TroyMensHoops or visit TroyTrojans.com.