Davis, Jr. And Hollimon Lead Troy To 80-77 Win At Georgia State

Monday, January 9

Atlanta, Ga.

6 P.M.

Troy University

9-8, 1-2SBC

Georgia State

8-7, 1-2SBC

Troy

Georgia State

Davis, Jr. And Hollimon Lead Troy To 80-77 Win At Georgia State

1/9/2017 9:09:00 PM | Basketball (M)

Box Score

By: Russ Schaffer

Box Score

ATLANTA, Georgia – Juan Davis, Jr. had another huge night, Jeremy Hollimon was a perfect 6-6 on free throws and Troy picked up the first Sun Belt win of the season 80-77 at Georgia State on Monday.

Davis, Jr. was lethal from deep in hitting four 3-pointers to rack up 16 points for the Trojans (9-8) in the win. Jeremy Hollimon joined Davis, Jr. with 16 points. It was the senior's free throw shooting down the stretch that largely secured the victory for Troy.

The Trojans looked like they were in the clear after two Hollimon free throws gave Troy a 74-67 lead with 57 seconds on the clock, but the drama was only just beginning.

A 3-pointer by Jeremy Hollowell, who led Georgia State (8-7) with 19 points on the night, cut the lead to 74-70 with 42 seconds left.

Two more free throws by Hollimon again looked to seal the win as Troy led 76-70 with 35 seconds left. The Panthers hit two free throws yet Hollimon responded with two more free throws of his own with 28 seconds to go.

Those two points may have been the dagger, but Devin Mitchell hit a 3-pointer just five seconds later to cut the deficit back down to three.

Wesley Person was fouled on the ensuing possession and had a chance to get it back to a two-possession game. His first free throw bounced off the iron and the second one fell true to get the lead back up to 79-75 with 21 seconds remaining.

A layup by Mitchell, who was second on Georgia State with 15 points, cut the lead to 79-77. Kevin Baker followed suit with Person in going one-for-one from the line for an 80-77 lead and one last shot for the Panthers.

With 11 seconds left and needing a 3-pointer to tie, the Panthers set up around the perimeter to attempt the game-tying shot. Mitchell got the ball, twisted and took an off-balanced shot from deep that clanged off the rim. Baker grabbed the rebound and sprinted down the court to run the clock out.

Troy led 45-39 at the half to snap a two-game skid of trailing at halftime. Five different players scored in double-digits for Troy. On top of Davis, Jr. and Hollimon, DeVon Walker had 15 points, Kevin Baker had 14 and Jordon Varnado also had 14.

Quotable
"That was one where we really had our backs against the wall in terms of getting back into the conference race," head coach Phil Cunningham said. "We said coming into this three-game road trip that we would love to at least get two wins, but we knew we had to get at least one. We had to. To get this win here and overcome the two losses we just had is really special."

Stat of the Game
The win marked the eighth win of the season when Troy has outscored the opposition in the paint. The Trojans beat the Panthers in the paint by a margin of 34-22. Troy was also the more efficient shooting team on the night in hitting 27-49 shots (55.1 percent) compared to 26-58 shooting (44.8 percent) by Georgia State.

Turning Point
After leading by as much as 13 in the second half, the Panthers clawed all the way back to tie it up at 67 with 3:02 remaining on two free throws by Devin Mitchell. It was then that the free throws came into play. Troy only hit one field goal in the final three minutes but scored 11 points off of free throws down the stretch. The Trojans went on a 7-0 run from the 3:02 mark until there were only 57 seconds remaining.

Noteworthy
• The win marked just the fifth time that Georgia State has lost at home in the last four seasons.

• Jeremy Hollimon has scored in double-digits for 11-straight games. Of those 11 games, 10 have been off the bench.

• Juan Davis, Jr. has 37 points in the past two games and has been 9-11 on 3-point shooting in those games.

• DeVon Walker hit a career-high seven field goals on 7-of-10 shooting. He also grabbed six rebounds, four of which were offensive.

Up Next
After more than a month on the road, the Trojans will return home on Saturday against UT Arlington followed by a matchup against Texas State on Monday. For more information on Troy men's basketball, follow the team on social media at @TroyMensHoops or visit TroyTrojans.com.