Troy Ties Program Record in Win Over App State

Saturday, January 5

Troy, Ala.

2 p.m.

Troy University

8-6, 1-1

Appalachian State

5-10, 0-2

Appalachian State

Troy

Troy Ties Program Record in Win Over App State

1/5/2019 5:27:00 PM | Basketball (M)

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: Troy Athletics Communications

Troy, Ala. – Troy hit 10 consecutive free throws over the final 52 seconds to hold off a furious Appalachian State comeback for an 89-85 victory in Sun Belt Conference men's basketball action inside of Trojan Arena on Saturday evening.

The Trojans (8-6, 1-1 SBC) tied a program record with 13 blocked shots and posted 19 assists on 32 made shots to win their first Sun Belt game of the season.

Senior Jordon Varnado returned to action and scored a game-high 27 points on 8-of-12 (66 percent) shooting from the field including a perfect 8-of-8 from the charity stripe. Varnado added eight rebounds, a season-high six assists, a pair of blocks and a steal to his stat line.

Fellow senior Alex Hicks added 16 points, eight rebounds and a pair of blocks while sophomore Darian Adams scored 13 points with a career-high eight assists, four rebounds, two blocks and a steal. Sophomore Javan Johnson closed out the double-digit scoring for Troy with 11.

Troy began the game on fire, forcing the Mountaineers (5-10, 0-2 SBC) to call two timeouts prior to the 10-minute mark in the first. Despite trailing by 22 with 10:54 remaining, App State did not let up and brought the score to within one, 46-45, at the half after going on a 23-3 run over the final six minutes.

In a back-and-forth affair in the second half, App State hit a jumper with 1:15 left to make it 79-77 in favor of Troy. On the ensuing possession Troy would hold the ball and force the Mountaineers to commit an intentional foul which sparked 10 consecutive made free throws, six of which coming from Varnado, to close out the game.

QUOTING COACH CUNNINGHAM
"It's hard to say it a 'must win' this early in conference action but we really needed to get into the win column after Thursday night's loss. I was really pleased how we came out of the gate and played one of our best defensive segments of a game in the first 10 minutes of the game."

"Coach Grant and I knew App State had the ability to make shots and knew that they had a chance to comeback in the game and they did. I'm really proud of our guys for hanging on and getting the win. I think Varnado had one of his best games of his career here and then Adams really stepped up and showed how good he can be. Now we have to go do the same on the road."

QUICK HITS
- Neither team posted fast break points in the game
- Sophomore Malik Burnett posted a career-high nine points on a career-high three three-pointers
- Troy never trailed in the contest and the score was tied for only 42 seconds (0-0; 9-9)
- Troy is 6-0 on the season when the game is played prior to 5 p.m.

UP NEXT
Troy will hit the road for the first time in 2019 as it will face Little Rock on Thursday, Jan. 10 at 6:30 p.m. followed by playing Arkansas State on Saturday, Jan. 12 at 4 p.m. Both game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.