Troy University Athletics
Troy University
1-0,0-0Sun Belt
Western Carolina
1-1,0-0SoCon
Alabama Trio, Powers Trojans to Season-Opening Victory Over Western Carolina
11/27/2020 4:20:00 PM | Basketball (M)
ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- Freshman Kam Woods exploded for 20 points, while junior Zay Williams added 15 points and nine rebounds in his return to action leading Troy to an impressive, 66-64, victory over Western Carolina Friday afternoon at Kimmel Arena.
The pivotal point of the game was a 16-5 run that the Trojans (1-0) engineered after Western Carolina took a 43-33 lead with 12:16 to play in the second half.
Beginning with a Desmond Williams' layup, the run featured clutch 3-pointers from Nick Stampley and Antwan Burnett that cut the Catamounts lead to 45-41.
Stampley finished the matchup with eight points, nine rebounds and a pair of blocks, while Burnett finished with eight points and four rebounds. The freshman was plus-nine (second-best on the team).
After a Tyler Harris triple gave WCU a 48-41 lead with 9:18 to play, the Trojans scored the next 10 to take a 51-48 advantage at the under eight media timeout. The run featured crucial triples from Stampley, Dez Williamsand a pair of spectacular layups from Woods.
Down the stretch, the Catamounts and Trojans continued to trade baskets as Troy enjoyed a slim, 57-56, lead at the under four media timeout.
Following missed layups from both the Trojans and Catamounts, Woods drove down the middle of the lane and connected on a nifty floater that gave the Trojans a 59-56 lead with 2:32 to play.
After Stampley corralled the rebound after a WCU miss, Zay Williams on a layup that gave Troy a 61-56 lead with exactly two minutes left in regulation.
Western Carolina answered with a layup to cut the Troy lead to just 61-58 with 70 ticks to play, but Woods calmly sunk the front end of a one-and-one to put Troy up 62-58 with one-minute left.
Once Stampley was whistled for his fifth and final foul on a loose ball rebound, WCU missed both ensuing free throw attempts, giving the ball back to the Trojans.
A key offensive rebound allowed Troy to keep possession of the basketball with 28 seconds remaining, forcing Western Carolina to foul.
Woods was fouled with 25 seconds remaining and hit a pair of clutch free throws that gave Troy a 64-58 lead.
A Matt Halvorson 3-pointer with just 16 ticks to play cut the Troy lead to 64-61, but Dez Williams hit one free throw to give the Trojans a 65-61 advantage. On the ensuing Western Carolina possession, the Catamounts missed a layup and Zay Williams secured the rebound and hit one-of-two from the charity stripe to put Troy ahead 66-61.
Western Carolina's Travion McCray hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from half-court, as Troy earned a hard 66-64 victory.
Woods' 20 points were a game-high. McCray led the Catamounts in scoring (14 points) and was one of four Western Carolina players to reach double-figures.
Troy returns to action tomorrow afternoon against UNCW. Tip-off from Kimmel Arena is set for noon. Saturday's game will air only on 96.3 FM/970 AM WTBF Troy and TroyTrojans.com/Watch.
HEAD COACH SCOTT CROSS:
"It was a total team effort today. We played 11 guys and they all contributed in some form or fashion. The energy on the bench was phenomenal also. Our defensive toughness and grit was what I expected and it's definitely the type of 'Take The Stairs' toughness that I expect from our guys. I'm super proud of them. Western Carolina is a very good offensive basketball team and they looked really good in their first game, so this is a huge win for our program. I'm glad we got off to a good start."
On the Alabama players on the roster:
"Alabama basketball is very underrated nationally. Kam was absolutely amazing today. To have 20 points, six rebounds and three assists in your first basketball game was phenomenal. Duke [Miles] was really, really good today too. He got in foul trouble early on but he's a gamer and gets the ball where it needs to go. Dez really changed that game with his defensive intensity and the way he flies around out there. In the second half when we were struggling Dez drove in there and showed how strong and tough he is. I'm fired up about all of those guys. And then Zay gave us 15 and nine. We're fired up to recruit the state and continue to get good players out of the state."
Guard Kam Woods:
"We did a good job of trusting each other today. Coach talked about how we needed to play together and we did that today. If everyone is having fun and making plays I think we're going to win a lot of games. I was a bit nervous at first and I knew the rest of the freshmen were as well. It was good to get a game under our belt and now we know what to expect the rest of the season. We need to come back better and stronger tomorrow."
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
• Woods' 20-points were the most by a true freshman in a his first game since Jordan Varnado dropped 21 against USF (Nov. 13, 2015)
• The freshman scored 13 of his 20 points in the second period.
• Troy scored the first eight points of the game.
• After being limited to just eight minutes of action in the first period, Zay Williams played 16 minutes in the second half. He scored eight points in the opening period and seven in the second.
• The Trojans drew five charges Friday afternoon.
• After drawing 40 percent of the Trojans charges a season ago, Stampley was responsible for taking 40 percent (2-of-5) of Troy's charges today.
• Western Carolina exploded for 98 points Wednesday afternoon against UNCW shooting almost 60 percent from the field. Troy held the Catamounts to 35 percent shooting and 64 points.
• Troy shot just 2-of-8 from the line in the first half, but improved to 10-of-16 in the second half. The Trojans were 12-of-24 total.
• Woods made three of his four "clutch" free throw attempts (final two minutes).
• Troy forced 14 total turnovers.
