Troy Races Out to 87-78 Win Against Coastal Carolina

Saturday, February 18

Troy, Ala.

4:15 PM

Troy University

15-12, 7-6

Coastal Carolina

13-14, 8-6

Coastal Carolina

Troy

Troy Races Out to 87-78 Win Against Coastal Carolina

2/18/2017 7:33:00 PM | Basketball (M)

Box Score

By: Russ Schaffer

Box Score

TROY, Alabama – Needing a win against a Coastal Carolina squad a spot ahead in the Sun Belt standings, Troy scored early and scored often en route to a dominating 87-78 win at home on Saturday.

The Trojans (15-12, 7-6) could seemingly do no wrong offensively as Troy shot 48.1 percent (26-54) from the field and 44.4 (12-27) from 3-point range. It was as complete of a team effort as coach Phil Cunningham could have asked for as four different players scored in double-digits led by Jordon Varnado with 17.

It looked like a shootout was imminent as by the 13-minute mark of the first half, both teams were already well tuned on offense with Troy leading 22-20. That, however, was as close as it would ever get.

After that mark, Troy went on a 17-8 run to get the home lead up to 11 after a jumper by Varnado with 4:56 in the first half. The rest of the half would stay at the same pace as the Trojans went into the break with a 47-38 lead.

Any chance of the game getting closer was quickly wiped away after Troy came out of the intermission with dominating defense and stellar offense.

Coastal Carolina (13-14, 8-6) had three baskets in the first 1:15 of the second half but followed that with a long cold stretch that saw the Chanticleers not convert a field goal from the 18:45 mark until just 12:46 remained in the game.

While Coastal Carolina struggled to find offense, Troy had no problem doing so and got the lead as high as 21 in that span. The lead stayed in double-digits for the entirety of the second half until the very last shot of the game dropped the Trojan's margin of victory to nine.

It was a bench-clearing effort for the Trojans as all 13 available players saw game action on the night. No player for Troy played more than 25 minutes.

Quotable
"It was really an interesting start to the game," head coach Phil Cunningham said. "Both teams came out very hot making threes from everywhere. We knew that we were going to have to get some stops, but luckily we were also making threes to keep the pace. Once the game settled down I thought we did a really good job in our zone. We were good offensively tonight. It was a really good win for us tonight."

Stat of the Game
Troy shot 44.4 percent (12-27) from 3-point range in the contest. That number could have been higher if not for three missed 3-pointers by Shawn Hopkins late in the game when the outcome was already decided. On the flip side, Coastal Carolina was 35.1 percent (13-37) from deep.

Turning Point
The cold stretch by Coastal Carolina out of the break was crucial as Troy's offense showed no signs of slowing down. The six-minute gap between field goals by the Chanticleers allowed for the Trojans to have a game-high lead of 22 points with 13:06 remaining. The lead was at least 16 all the way until just 1:05 remained.

Noteworthy
• The win marked the first time Troy has won three conference games in a row since Feb. 10-17, 2011.

• All but one starter scored in double-digits with Kevin Baker being the exception with eight points.

• The win came despite a poor night shooting from the free-throw line as the Trojans shot just 62.2 percent (23-37) from the line.

Up Next
The Trojans will remain home to face Appalachian State on Monday. For more information on Troy men's basketball, follow the team on social media at @TroyMensHoops or visit TroyTrojans.com.