Stampley’s Effort not Enough as Trojans Fall to Georgia Southern

Thursday, January 16

Troy, Ala.

6 p.m.

Troy University

7-12,3-5Sun Bel

Georgia Southern

12-7,6-2Sun Bel

Ga. Southern

Troy

Photo by: Chris Davis

Stampley’s Effort not Enough as Trojans Fall to Georgia Southern

1/16/2020 8:28:00 PM | Basketball (M)

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By: Troy Athletics Communications

TROY, Ala. -- Despite a career-best 17 points and 7 rebounds from junior forward Nick Stampley, the Troy Trojans dropped a 82-66 decision to Georgia Southern University Thursday evening at Trojan Arena.

The Trojans (7-12, 3-5 Sun Belt) failed to do the job on the defensive end, as the Eagles (12-7, 6-2 Sun Belt) shot 53.6 percent from the field.

Freshman Desmond Williams scored 14 points in defeat while Stampley added 17 points, 7 rebounds and a pair of blocks.

Troy started the game quickly Thursday night, taking an early 10-6 advantage at the first media timeout of the game.

Following a Stampley basket that increased the Trojan lead to 12-6 a few moments later, Georgia Southern used an 8-0 run to take a 14-12 lead with 13:32 remaining in the first half.

After a Tajh Small triple gave Troy a 15-14 lead with 13:16 left in the half, the visiting Eagles used a 19-6 burst to take a 33-21 lead with 6:19 left in the opening period.

Troy would answer the Georgia Southern run, hitting back-to-back 3-pointers from Williams and Charles Norman cutting the Eagles advantage to just six with 2:01 left in the half.

One last bucket for Georgia Southern increased the advantage to 43-35 at the break.

Troy opened the half on a 7-4 run to cut its deficit to just five points (47-42) at the 16:42 mark of the second half, but the Eagles used one last 19-10 stretch to take a 16-point lead with 9:24 left.

Over the final nine minutes of play, the Trojans were unable to shave the Georgia Southern lead to fewer than 13 points.

Four different Eagles scored in double-figures led by Isaiah Crawley (24 points, 10 rebounds) and Quan Jackson (19 points).

Troy returns to action on Saturday afternoon when the Georgia State Panthers visits Troy. Tip-off from Trojan Arena is set for 2 p.m.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
• The Trojans shot just nine free-throws today.
• All nine of the free-throw attempts were attempted by a Troy forward. It's the first time all season none of Troy's guards attempted a free throw.
• The Trojans did record 20 assists on 27 made baskets.
• Ty Gordon recorded his fourth consecutive game with at least four assists. The junior has five tonight.
• Despite scoring a season-low five points, Darian Adams did grab seven rebounds and recorded six assists.
• Des Williams recorded double-figures for the sixth time in his career. The freshman hit four triples.
• Freshman Jakevan Leftridge left Thursday's game with an ankle injury. The combo-guard played just six minutes of action.
• After hitting six triples in the first half, the Trojans shot just 1-of-12 from deep in the second period.
• Troy led for just six minutes and 13 seconds.

HEAD COACH SCOTT CROSS:
"This was a very disappointing performance by our team tonight. Our guys didn't show the toughness or grit that I'm looking for. It hurt when Jakevan went down because he was playing really well for us. Our margin for error is already small, then when you lose another starter, it becomes even smaller. For us to win a game against a really good basketball team we need to play much, much harder and tougher. And we didn't. Their zone gave us some trouble and we didn't shoot the ball well in the second half. Georgia Southern was prepared and did an excellent job of finishing against us. We need to find a way to get to the free-throw line more consistently too. And then, our transition-defense was too inconsistent tonight. We had a few live-ball turnovers that turned into uncontested layups or dunks for them on the other end, which really hurts. That was something that hurt us against Arkansas State, and it hurt us tonight. Those are a momentum killer and usually lead to a run from the other team. We can't continue to turn the ball over and allow uncontested layups. We can't lick our wounds so to speak because we have a quick turnaround and big challenge in Georgia State on Saturday afternoon."

On Stampley's performance:
"Nick is definitely our toughest all-around guy which is why he's out there. He battles every single possession. Nick does all of the little things for us. His ability to take charges is phenomenal, and he blocks out every time. We need to get more guys stepping up and playing as hard as he does. If we all played as hard as he did, we would have had a chance to win the game tonight."