Troy Falls In Final Minute At Georgia Southern

Saturday, March 3

Statesboro, Ga.

4 P.M.

Troy University

15-16, 9-9SBC

Georgia Southern

20-11, 10-8SBC

TROY

Georgia Southern

Troy Falls In Final Minute At Georgia Southern

3/3/2018 6:57:00 PM | Basketball (M)

Box Score

By: Russ Schaffer

STATESBORO, Ga. – With 1:19 left on the clock, Troy had all the momentum and looked in place to pull off the upset at Georgia Southern, but Tookie Brown hit a one-handed three as the shot clock expired to help the Eagles escape with an 89-83 win.

Wesley Person hit a 3-pointer with 2:11 left to make it 78-75 in favor of the home team. The Trojans (15-16, 9-9) responded with voracious defense on the other end and seemed poised to get the ball back with a chance to tie.

With just seconds remaining on the shot clock, Brown looked like he was about to fall out of bounds. Instead, he threw up a desperation shot from near midcourt that somehow found the net and made it 81-75 with 1:35 to play.

Jordon Varnado—who was virtually unstoppable all night with 27 points on 10-17 shooting—got two quick free throws to bring it back down to four, but Brown was there to thwart Troy's hopes as he again hit a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired on the ensuing possession.

Georgia Southern (20-11, 10-8) hit five free throws in the final minute to prevent Troy from pulling off a rally that saw the Trojans go down by as much as 17 in the first half.

Behind an energetic crowd on Senior Day, the Eagles held the Trojans to just 15 points in the first 13:32 of game action. It took the inside presence of Varnado and Alex Hicks (14 points and 15 rebounds) to allow Troy to get back into a groove on both ends.

The defeat prevented Troy from claiming the final bye in the tournament as the loss by ULM and win by Appalachian State made it a winner-take-all game by halftime. A win also would have clinched a winning regular season and a conference record of 10-8 for the second-straight year.

QUOTABLE
"It was a heck of a game," head coach Phil Cunningham said. "It was a tough way to lose. The winning shot was a baseball shot from 40 feet out. That's an unbelievable shot Brown made."

UP NEXT
Troy will enter the regular season as the No. 7 seed and will face No. 10 South Alabama on Wednesday at 5 p.m. in Lakefront Arena.

NOTEWORTHY
• The long ball proved to be the difference as the Trojans shot just 26.1 percent (6-23) while the Eagles hit 62.5 percent (15-24).

• Alex Hicks was one rebound off his career high after pulling down 15, five of which were offensive.

• Troy swept South Alabama in the season series with both wins coming by 15 or more.

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