Late Troy Rally Comes Up Short at Samford

Saturday, November 23

Birmingham, Ala.

2 p.m.

Troy University

1-5,0-0Sun Belt

Samford

4-3,0-0SoCon

Troy University

Samford

11/23/2019 5:43:00 PM | Basketball (M)

Box Score

By: Troy Athletics Communications

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Troy Trojans men's basketball team cut a 27-point Samford University lead to 14 with 4:58 remaining, but ultimately could not complete the comeback, falling 72-60 at the Pete Hanna Center Saturday afternoon.

The Trojans (1-5) forced 25 Samford (4-3) turnovers, including 15 in the second half, but 12 Samford 3-pointers proved to be the difference.

In defeat, Darian Adams scored 14 points, grabbed six rebounds and added six assists, while Charles Norman and Ty Gordon each added 13 points.

Samford was led by DeAndre Thomas (21 points, 7 3-pointers) and Brandon Austin (11 points, 5 rebounds).

The Trojans started the game slowly Saturday, as the home team lead 15-0 at the first media timeout, behind six Troy turnovers. After the slow start, Troy responded, cutting the Bulldogs lead to just 12 points (27-15) with 6 minutes and 32 seconds remaining in the half.

It was Samford's turn to counter, as they Bulldogs used a 16-7 run to open up a 21-point lead at the break.

After halftime, Samford continued to find the range from deep, hitting five-of-seven in the first nine minutes of half to open a 27-point (62-35) lead with 10:18 left.

Like they have all season, the Trojans continued to battle, cutting the large Bulldog lead to 14 (64-50), behind a 15-2 run over the next four minutes and 20 seconds. During the run, Troy forced seven Samford turnovers and held the Bulldogs to just three field goal attempts.

The late run wasn't quite enough, as Samford held Troy to just two points over the next three minutes and 30 seconds to put the game away.

Troy returns to action on Monday night at Alabama A&M. Tip-off from Huntsville is set for 7 p.m.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
• After Samford's early 15-0 outburst, the Trojans outscored the Bulldogs 60-57.
• Troy won the second half by 11 points (38-29).
• After turning the ball over six times in the first four minutes, and 12 times in the first half, Troy turned the ball over just four times in the second half.
• The Trojans defense forced a Samford turnover on 37.7 percent of Samford possessions.
• Troy shot 10-of-14 in the second half from the foul line.
• Adams scored in double-figures for the fifth time this season.
• The Trojans assisted on 19-of-21 made field goals.
• Troy now has 94 total assists on 147 made baskets (63.9 percent).
• The Trojans are averaging nearly 16 assists-per-game.
• KJ Simon saw a double-digit rebound streak snapped.
• He did record a steal for the fifth time in six games.
• Troy recorded 16 offensive rebounds.
• The Troy bench outscored Samford 20-8.

HEAD COACH SCOTT CROSS:
"I was very disappointed with the way we played from the opening tip. On that play, Zay won the tip, but we watched the ball go out of bounds instead of grabbing it. We got off to a bad start, and I felt like our guys didn't compete in the first half. We show them on video all of the things we need to work on defensively and we've got a couple of guys who aren't picking up the concepts quite yet. We need to get everyone on the same page and buying into doing the little things. You need to credit Samford. They played extremely well led by Sharkey (8 points, 14 assists) their point-guard. He really picked our defense apart and found their shooters who knocked down shots. They shot the 3-ball about as well as anyone has all year, including Indiana. This is on me, because tonight was a step backwards after we had taken a couple of steps forward. We're going to get back to work and get ready for the quick turnaround Monday against Alabama A&M. It's on me to figure out how to get it turned around."