Rally Falls Short At Appalachian State

Saturday, February 17

Boone, N.C.

2:30 P.M.

Troy University

13-14, 7-7SBC

Appalachian State

12-16, 7-8SBC

TROY

Appalachian State

2/17/2018 5:21:00 PM | Basketball (M)

Box Score

By: Russ Schaffer

Box Score (PDF)

BOONE, N.C. – Riding a four-game winning streak, Troy ran into a wall on Saturday in the Holmes Center as the Trojans were unable to find the scoring touch in a 65-54 loss at Appalachian State.

The offensive cold streak was evident from the start as the Mountaineers (12-16, 7-8) started the game on a 13-0 run in the first 3:08 of the game. It would be a comeback effort all night for the Trojans (13-14, 7-7) as Troy did not lead at any point in the game.

Despite a dominant performance of 30 points and 13 rebounds from Jordon Varnado, Troy shot just 27.6 percent (16-58) from the floor as Varnado was the only Trojan to score in double-digits.

Appalachian State got the lead as high as 22 with 9:30 left to play before Troy was able to get a comeback going. With 2:37 on the clock, Varnado hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 10, which was immediately followed by a steal by Darian Adams on the inbounds pass.

Adams, however, was fouled on a layup attempt and then missed both free throws to end any chance the Trojans had of pulling off the rally. Varnado's three was one of just four Troy hit all game as the Trojans shot 15.4 percent (4-26) from deep.

QUOTABLE
"There are a lot of built in excuses, but we don't want to go there," head coach Phil Cunningham said. "I thought we didn't show enough from a toughness standpoint. They hit us quick with that 13-0 deficit and really went after us.

"We fought back and survived, but they hit us with another run to start the second half. At the end of the game I thought we showed some toughness to get back in it, but we just didn't convert a couple of times. They were the tougher team today."

UP NEXT
The Trojans will have the final two home games of the year with conference leader UL Lafayette on Thursday and ULM on Feb. 24 for Senior Day.

NOTEWORTHY
• Troy set season lows in points (54) and field goal percentage (27.6 percent).

• A win would have given Coach Cunningham his first five-game winning streak in Sun Belt play.

• The Trojans have been outscored by 20 in points in the paint in consecutive games after the Mountaineers had a 38-18 advantage down low.

For more information on Troy men's basketball visit TroyTrojans.com or follow the team on social media at @TroyMensHoops.