Complete Effort Powers Trojans to Home Victory Over Coastal

Thursday, December 19

Troy, Ala.

6 p.m.

Troy University

5-7,1-0Sun Belt

Coastal Carolina

7-5,0-1Sun Belt

Coastal Carolina

TROY

Photo by: Chris Davis

Complete Effort Powers Trojans to Home Victory Over Coastal

12/19/2019 10:02:00 PM | Basketball (M)

Box Score Box Score (PDF) Photo Gallery Photo Gallery 2

By: Troy Athletics Communications

TROY, Ala. -- The Troy Trojans men's basketball program rode a complete effort to a 77-59 Sun Belt Conference victory over Coastal Carolina Thursday evening at Trojan Arena.

The Trojans (5-7, 1-0 Sun Belt) have now won four consecutive games at Trojan Arena for the first time since 2017 (Feb. 18-Mar. 4). The victory was Troy's largest Sun Belt Conference victory since an 82-64 triumph over Little Rock back on Feb. 10, 2018.

In the victory, junior Ty Gordon added 17 points and a career-best five 3-pointers, while Darian Adams scored 13 points (all in the second half) and added five assists and five rebounds. Junior Zay Williams scored 11 points and added 7 rebounds, while Nick Stampley scored a career-best 9 points, grabbed four rebounds and drew four charges.

The Trojans forced 14 first half Coastal Carolina (7-4, 0-1 Sun Belt Conference), and held the potent Coastal offense to just 3-of-21 (14.3 percent) from behind the arc.

Troy started quickly Thursday evening, opening up an early 15-6 advantage at the under-12 media timeout.

Just over two minutes later, the Trojan lead was 15, after Zay Williams stole the ball and throw down a monstrous slam that forced a Chants timeout.

Follow the break, Coastal Carolina switched their defense around, and used a 10-1 outburst to cut the Trojans lead to just six (24-18) with 5:45 remaining in the half.

The Trojans responded over the final five minutes of the half, using a 14-6 burst to take a 14-point lead into the locker room at the break.

Following the halftime break, Adams got hot from the field, hitting back-to-back 3-pointers to give Troy a 44-26 lead with 18:09 left in the game.

After the Chants cut the Trojan advantage to 15 points (52-37) with 12:28 left, Troy received back-to-back 3-pointers from Gordon and Charles Norman that gave Troy a 21-point (58-37) advantage and forced another Coastal Carolina timeout.

The Chants would answer the Troy outburst with 10-2 run that cut the Trojans advantage to just 13 (60-47), but Adams nailed one last crucial triple that put Troy up 63-47 with 9:16 left.

The Trojan lead went no lower than 16 over the final nine minutes of the ballgame, as Troy held on for their fourth consecutive home victory.

Troy closes out the 2019 calendar year on Saturday afternoon when Appalachian State visits Trojan Arena. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
• Troy started 1-0 in the Sun Belt Conference for the first time since 2009-10.
• The Trojans allowed just three 3-point field goals tonight. The Chants were held to 0-of-9 shooting from deep in the first half.
• Troy is the first team to hold CCU without a 3-pointer in the first half this season.
• The Trojans improve to 5-1 when holding teams to under 70 points.
• Troy defeated Coastal at Trojan Arena for the first time since Feb. 18, 2017.
• The Trojans shot 7-of-14 from behind the arc in the second half.
• Tonight, was the sixth consecutive game that Troy shot over 70 percent from the free throw line. Troy is 7-0 this season when shooting better than 70 percent from the line.
• This evening was the first time that Troy was victorious in a game where Troy was out rebounded.
• The Trojans have shot better than 40 percent from the field in three straight games.
• Adams recorded his ninth game with at least 10 points this season. The Montgomery native has scored 46 points in his last three games.
• After recording his first career double-double at Chattanooga Sunday afternoon, Zay Williams narrowly missed second double-double. The sophomore is averaging 13.5 points and 7.8 rebounds per game over his last four contests.
• The Trojans improve to 4-1 when Desmond Williams starts.
• Tonight, Troy used its 10th different starting lineup in 12 games.

HEAD COACH SCOTT CROSS:
"Tonight was a huge game for us. It felt like a must-win game for this team. Our guys have been working hard. We practiced for over two hours a day, watched some film and then brought them back in the afternoon for weights and individual work. We've done that the last three days, but I think tonight we shot the ball extremely well. We shot 40 percent from the field for the second consecutive game, and I think we've started to turn the corner. We've been doing some mental training exercises with our guys and we're starting to see the benefits. Hopefully, the guys continue to build good habits. This performance tonight proves that we're capable of playing with anybody in the league. It's exciting for us to have the opportunity to start 2-0 in conference play heading into Christmas break. You always want to win your last game heading into Christmas break so I'm glad we're on our home floor and our guys will have a bit of confidence. We just need to keep our edge on Saturday."

On the defensive effort:
"This was the best we've defended the 3-point line all year, so I'm proud of our guys for that. They played hard and communicated and played with intensity. This was an all-around good team win. I cannot as a coach ask for more from our guys than we received tonight."

Guard Darian Adams:
"Despite the slow start tonight, I never lost my confidence. I know that I can shoot the ball, and coach tells me to keep shooting it. My teammates give me confidence when I go out there. So, I knew I just had to keep shooting, and eventually the shots would fall. I think since the Shorter game our team has continued to grow. We took the redshirts off the two freshmen and everybody stepped it up a level. We knew what we had to do to earn minutes. Everybody wants to play, and those two guys forced the rest of the team to earn our minutes. We're finally starting to gel as a team and improving on our chemistry. I think you saw our pride on display. We didn't want them to shoot the ball and get any open looks. We stuck to our game plan and executed it. Our coaches came up with a great plan, and we love to play good defense. Tonight, you saw that in full force."