Troy Rallies For 57-54 Win On Senior Day

Saturday, March 4

Troy, Ala.

4:15 PM

Troy University

18-14 (10-8)

Little Rock

15-16 (6-12)

Little Rock

Troy

3/4/2017 8:20:00 PM | Basketball (M)

Box Score

By: Russ Schaffer

Box Score

TROY, Alabama – Troy trailed by seven with a little more than four minutes remaining, but Troy pulled off the comeback on senior day 57-54 over Little Rock on Saturday in Trojan Arena.

The comeback win took the best free-throw shooting night of Wesley Person's career as the junior went a perfect 12-12 from the line and made all six of Troy's final points to close out the game.

A 3-pointer by Kemy Osse gave Little Rock the seven-point advantage with 4:04 to play. A layup by Jordon Varnado cut that to five then neither team scored again until Varnado hit two free throws with 2:08 remaining.

On Little Rock's ensuing possession, Osse missed a 3-pointer, but the visiting Trojans grabbed the offensive rebound. Little Rock drained 25 seconds off the shot clock yet did no damage as Daniel Peace stole it away with 1:21 on the clock.

Peace, playing in his final regular season game for Troy, capitalized on the steal by sinking two free throws without any time coming off the clock. Another senior, Jeremy Hollimon, got in on the action at the end by blocking Jalen Jackson's shot on Little Rock's next possession.

From there, it turned into the Wesley Person show. Jackson fouled Person after his shot was blocked and Troy took the lead after Person connected on both free throws.

Leading by just one with 46 seconds to play, Peace once again came up big defensively as he registered yet another steal on Osse. With the shot clock turned off, Person was fouled again and again he hit both of his free throws to extend Troy's lead to three.

Little Rock got its final two points of the night off two free throws by Marcus Johnson, Jr., which was negated by two more free throws by Person. Little Rock's final possession ended with a missed 3-pointer as time expired to secure the Troy victory.

Quotable
"That was one of those grind-it-out games where we found a way to win," head coach Phil Cunningham said. "I'm really proud of our guys for hanging in there and not giving up. We hung around and made enough plays down the stretch. I'm really proud of Daniel Peace for the resiliency he showed. He made some huge plays down the stretch that gave us a chance to win the game. What we did down the stretch on free throws was really impressive."

Stat of the Game
On a night where the seniors were honored, it was Wesley Person who saved the day. He was a career-best 12-12 from the line, had 20 points on the night and added two 3-pointers. The junior was second best on the team at +8 on the night and had only one turnover in 32 minutes of play.

Turning Point
Though Little Rock led for 34:50 compared to 3:57 for Troy, the home Trojans never allowed the away Trojans to get the lead to double-digits. Little Rock led by eight points on three separate occasions before the 10-minute mark of the second half. Each time Little Rock got the lead up to eight, Troy had a basket on the ensuing possession to bring it back down.

Noteworthy
• The 10 wins in conference play are the third-most since Troy joined the Sun Belt conference. Troy's 18 regular season wins are the most since winning 20 in 2009-10.

• The win means that Troy clinched the six seed in the Sun Belt tournament. Troy will face Appalachian State in the opening round.

• In his final regular season game, Daniel Peace had the best +/- of any player on the court at +12.

• After holding Arkansas State to four 3-pointers on Thursday, Troy allowed just six 3-pointers to Little Rock.

Up Next
Troy will move on to the Sun Belt tournament starting with a matchup against Appalachian State on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. For more information on Troy men's basketball, follow the team on social media at @TroyMensHoops or visit TroyTrojans.com.