Trojans Stifle Gamecocks for Third Straight Win

Wednesday, December 11

Jacksonville, Ala.

7:30 p.m.

Troy University

4-6,0-0Sun Belt

Jacksonville State

2-7,0-0OVC

TROY

Jacksonville St.

Photo by: Chris Davis

Trojans Stifle Gamecocks for Third Straight Win

12/11/2019 10:37:00 PM | Basketball (M)

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: Troy Athletics Communications

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. -- The Troy Trojans men's basketball program held the Jacksonville State University Gamecocks to just one field goal and five points over the final nine minutes and 43 seconds turning a 50-45 deficit, to a 60-55 victory Wednesday evening at Pete Matthews Coliseum.

Down the stretch, Troy (4-6) outscored the Gamecocks (2-7) 10-0 from the 9:43 mark until the 2:22 mark, a span of seven minutes and 21 seconds.

Sophomore Zay Williams added 16 points and five rebounds, while Darian Adams added 14 points including two clutch free throws with 12.5 seconds to go that cliched the victory.

Troy has now won three consecutive games in a row for the first time since Troy closed the 2018 calendar year (Dec. 12-29) with a four straight victories.

The Trojans started the game strong on the defensive end, holding Jacksonville State to just 2-of-11 from the field over the first eight minutes and 38 seconds to take a 9-6 lead at the under-12 media timeout.

Over the next four minutes, Jax State would get hot from behind the arc, using three 3-point field goals to take a 17-16 advantage at the under-eight media timeout.

The Trojans and Gamecocks continued to trade baskets down the final moments of the half, until JSU opened a five-point advantage with four seconds left in the half.

Looking to grab some momentum heading into the half, freshman Desmond Williams whipped a perfect pass to Adams, who skied for a 3-pointer that beat the halftime buzzer, and cut the Gamecocks lead to just two (30-28) heading into the break.

Out of the half, Troy scored 14 points over the first eight minutes of the half to take a narrow 42-41 lead at the under-12 media break (11:28). Over the next 123 seconds, Jacksonville State would respond, using a 9-3 run to take a five-point lead with 9:43 left in the ballgame.

The Trojans locked down on the defense end over the next nine minutes and 39 seconds, holding Jax State to 0-of-7 shooting and three free-throws. Troy forced four key turnovers.

With the Troy lead at just 55-52 with 2:13 left, junior Davion Thomas took a perfect fast-break feed from classmate Ty Gordon, and threw down a thunderous and-one highlight reel dunk that doubled the Troy advantage.

For the fourth consecutive contest, the Trojans converted on at least 70 percent of their free throws, highlighted by the two crucial makes by Adams in the final 15 seconds of the ballgame to earn the first road victory of the season.

Troy closes out non-conference play on Sunday afternoon at Chattanooga. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. Central.

HEAD COACH SCOTT CROSS:

"Our team earned this road victory. Jacksonville State is an extremely difficult place to play. They have a huge home-court advantage because the crowd and the band are right on top of you. It was loud and they had a good student section which made it very hard for our guys to me calling the plays. We fell behind by a bit, but our guys dug deep and turned the tables on them. It was good to see us pull this one out. Our guys were much tougher in the second half of this game. The play of the game was that dunk that Tree had. We challenged him to be a bit tougher and he went up and got that and-one. That play really stuck out to me."

Troy Guard Darian Adams:
"This was a big win. It's always good to win on the road. This was our first road win of the season, and we earned it. It was nice to come out, play hard and get a big win. At halftime coach Cross came into the locker room and told us that we needed to pick up our defensive intensity and that Jacksonville State was being tougher than us. We went out in the second half and raised our level and made sure we executed what coach said. I think we went into halftime with a bit of momentum and knew that we were down just two points. Then down the stretch coach Cross had confidence in me and knew I was going to knock down the free throws. We practice this every day, and I think we did a good job of taking our practice routine to the game. We got our first road win and have won three straight games which gives us a lot of confidence heading into the game against Chattanooga."

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
• The Trojans shot 13-of-25 from the field in the second half (52 percent)
• Troy recorded its ninth consecutive game with at least 10 offensive rebounds. It's the longest streak since Troy grabbed 10 offensive rebounds from Dec. 23, 2013-Feb. 20, 2014 (15 games).
• Troy held JSU to just seven field goals from inside the arc tonight.
• Troy turned 16 Jax State turnovers into 18 points for the game. In the second half, the Trojans scored 14 points off the eight second half turnovers.
• The Trojans outscored the Gamecocks 34-14 in the paint.
• Freshman Jakevan Leftridge recorded a game-high plus-minus of +12 tonight.
• Zay Williams scored 12 of his game-high 16 points after intermission.
• Troy improves to 4-1 this season when holding teams under 65 points.
• KJ Simon recorded his 12^th career game with at least two steals.
• Adams recorded his seventh game this season with at least 10 points. The junior is now averaging 12.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.
• Desmond Williams is now 11-of-18 from the field in his Troy career. The freshman narrowly missed recording three consecutive games with at least 10 points.