Second Half Defensive Effort Pushes Troy Past North Alabama

Wednesday, December 4

Troy, Ala.

7:15 p.m.

Troy University

3-6,0-0Sun Belt

North Alabama

4-5,0-0ASUN

North Ala.

TROY

Photo by: Chris Davis

Second Half Defensive Effort Pushes Troy Past North Alabama

12/4/2019 10:21:00 PM | Basketball (M)

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By: Troy Athletics Communications

TROY, Ala. -- The Troy Trojans men's basketball program forced 21 North Alabama turnovers en route to a 71-63 victory Wednesday night at Trojan Arena. The Trojans (3-6) used a 11-0 second half run to pull away from the Lions (4-5), holding UNA without a basket from the 8:48 mark to the 4:22 mark.

In the victory, Zay Williams scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds while Desmond Williams added 11 points, three rebounds and a pair of assists. Junior Davion Thomas continued his strong play as of late, scoring 12 points and grabbing six rebounds.

Troy started the ballgame strong on Wednesday, opening an early 5-1 advantage at the first media time out. The Lions would answer tying the game at 11 at the second media timeout of the half.

The two Alabama schools traded baskets for a majority of the rest of the half, with neither side opening more than a six-point lead (Troy 24, UNA 18-6:02). Troy did enjoy a five-point advantage with just 78 ticks remaining in the half, but North Alabama used a 5-0 run to tie the ballgame at 32 at the break.

After intermission, Troy began the half strong, using a 9-0 run over the first 2:17 of the half to grab a 41-32 advantage. Just like in the first half, the Lions would answer, using a 7-0 run to cut the Troy advantage to just two (41-39) with 13 minutes left.

Following a timeout, the Trojans responded with another 7-0 spurt, to take a 49-39 lead with 10:28 left in the ballgame. Seeing the game slipping away, North Alabama tightened up on defense and cut the Troy advantage to just six points with 8:48 left.

Troy then rode one last 11-0 outburst over the next four minutes and 26 seconds to take a 17-point advantage with 4:22 left. The lead proved to be enough, as Troy led by at least eight points for the remainder of the ballgame.

The Trojans return to action next Wednesday evening at Jacksonville State. Tip-off from Pete Mathews Coliseum is set for 7:30 p.m.

Troy head coach Scott Cross:
"Tonight was a huge win for us. I watched them play against Indiana, and they played them even for a long time. And then they beat Samford, another team we lost to. So we were concerned. It was a quality victory for us. We won the hustle points by over 30 which is the most we've won them by this year. We made the little plays tonight to earn the victory. Des [Williams] played awesome again for us tonight. He's so energetic and tenacious for us on the defensive end. Nick Stampley took two charges for us down the stretch which was huge, and our guys fought and clawed our way to a hard-earned victory. When you create offense with your defense, you're going to have the opportunity to win a lot of games. We need to be the hardest playing and toughest team in the country to be successful and tonight we made a step towards that because the energy was there."

Zay Williams:
"We still need to improve, but tonight was an important win for us. We need to close out the game a bit better than we did. When we break down the film from tonight, I think we'll see the areas we need improve on going forward. We needed this win tonight heading into the little break that we have coming up this week."

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
• Troy has now won three consecutive games at Trojan Arena.
• The Trojans have now won back-to-back games.
• Troy is 3-0 when wearing the white uniforms this season.
• The Trojans blocked a season-high five shots tonight.
• Four different Trojans reached double-figures tonight.
• Troy just missed out on having six different players reach double-figures for the second consecutive game. Darian Adams and Jakevan Leftridge just missed score 10, adding nine points each.
• The Trojans recorded at least 10 offensive rebounds for the eight-consecutive game. It's the first time Troy grabbed at least 10 offensive rebounds in eight-straight games since 2016 (Dec. 1-23).
• Troy led for over 31 minutes tonight (31:39 total). The Trojans trailed for just three minutes.
• Troy scored 14 second-chance points of the 16 offensive rebounds.
• Thomas was a team best plus-18 this evening.
• Ty Gordon scored 10 points and added five assists, which are the most he's recorded since the opener against UAB (Nov. 7).