Heroes Abound as Trojans Roll Past Samford for Third Straight Victory

Wednesday, December 16

Troy, Ala.

6 p.m.

Troy University

4-3,0-0Sun Belt

Samford

2-3,0-0SoCon

Samford

Troy

Heroes Abound as Trojans Roll Past Samford for Third Straight Victory

12/16/2020 10:33:00 PM | Basketball (M)

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By: Troy Athletics Communications

TROY, Ala. – Toughness. Competitiveness. Selflessness. Communication. Ownership.

Those are the five core values that the Troy men's basketball program strives to embody. All of five were on display Wednesday night in Troy's big, 79-71, victory at Trojan Arena.

Led by career performances from Khalyl Waters (21 points, 13-14 FT) and Nick Stampley (17 points, 12 rebounds and 5 blocks) the Troy men's basketball team won its third consecutive game and notched its second consecutive wire-to-wire victory.

In a game that featured 45 fouls, three technical and a flagrant-one foul, it was the young scrappy Trojans who showed the most poise when it mattered most.

Wednesday's contest got off to a wild start as the opening tip was won by the Bulldogs (2-3) and thrown up for grabs. The loose ball was immediately stolen by Kieffer Punter who, while on the ground, was body slammed by Samford freshman Marcellus Vail just eight seconds into the game.

The excessive contact was ruled a flagrant-one foul, and Punter was awarded a pair of free throws.

After a quick steal by Jacob Tryon tied the ballgame at two, the Trojans, behind a triple from Punter and a pair of free throws from Waters, opened up an early 7-2 advantage.

After a Samford field goal cut the Troy lead to just 7-4, the Trojans would score nine of the next 11 to go up 18-6 with 16:07 to play.

Over the next 11 minutes or so, the Trojans and Bulldogs continued to battle, but Troy led consistently stayed around double-figures.

Needing a run, Samford scored nine of the next 12 to cut the 12-point Troy advantage to just six (42-36) with 3:53 to play.

A clutch Zay Williams triple with 3:02 to play in the period gave Troy a 45-36 lead, but Samford held the Trojans to just two points the final 182 second to cut their large deficit to just seven (47-42) at the break.

In the opening period, Waters scored 11 of his game-high 21, as the senior hit all nine of his free throw attempts. Stampley also added 11 in the first half including a pair of shots from distance.

Following the halftime break, Samford struck first using a Christian Guess bucket to cut the Troy advantage to just 47-42, a minute and eight seconds into the final stanza.

Troy would score eight of the next 12, as a mini 4-0 run from Zay Williams gave the Trojans a 55-46 advantage with 16:24 to play.

Just six minutes and 23 seconds later, and after a short Troy cold spell, the nine-point advantage was down to just threewith 10:01 to play.

A key offensive rebound from Stampley sparked another 4-0 run, as Troy increased its lead to seven (62-55) with 8:27 left.

At the under eight media timeout (6:43), the Trojan advantage stood at just four (64-60) after Myron Gordon's triple. After scoring 29 points at Georgia Saturday, Gordon was held to just 16 points, the fewest he's scored in a game this season.

Following the media break, Zay Williams knocked in a pair of free throw attempts to extend the Troy advantage to two possessions (66-60).

Back-to-back layups from Christian Guess cut the Troy advantage to just 66-64 with 5:34 left, but Troy promptly answered with a 5-0 span over the next 62 seconds to go up, 71-64.

The two teams would trade baskets over the next two minutes of game time, as Troy led 73-66 with 2:32 to play.

With the ball possessed by the Bulldogs, Stampley forced a key steal, and later executed a textbook cut that resulted in an and-one that put Troy up 76-66 with exactly two minutes to play.

Samford tried to mount a furious comeback, when Guess used a pair of layups and a free throw to cut the Troy lead to just 76-71 with 1:13 to play, but Troy held the Bulldogs scoreless and used three clutch free throws from Stampley to hold on for a wire-to-wire 79-71 victory that pushed the Trojans over the .500 mark for the first time under Scott Cross.

HEAD COACH SCOTT CROSS:
"I'm so proud of our guys and the effort they gave tonight. This was one the best wins that I have been a part of in my coaching career. Watching Samford on film they pose a lot of problems with the way they pressure you for the entire game. They have so many different presses and they're relentless in transition. They shoot the ball extremely well. Coming into tonight they shot over 35 percent as a team from 3-point range. We have just one guy who shoots that. We had a lot of concerns coming into tonight, but our guys executed the game plan flawlessly. We got to the free throw line, played great defense and did a good job against their transition offense. I'm just super proud of our team."

On Khalyl Waters' performance tonight:
"Khalyl has really worked hard this offseason. His confidence is growing, and he's such a strong finisher. What's really impressive is the way he's been shooting his free throws. He's been making them and getting to the line which has been a huge boost for us. Last season we never got the free throw line, and Khalyl is leading the charge. Stampley and Zay are also getting to the line as well for us. Shooting free throws just makes your offense so much easier. We didn't shoot the ball well again, but we were able to overcome it because we got to the free throw line so many times."

SENIOR NICK STAMPLEY:
"I knew coming into the game that I needed to shoot the ball better tonight. The previous games I haven't had the results that I want to, so I've been putting in extra work with the coaches to tweak my shot. When I made my first one tonight it felt amazing. That's what I've been waiting for, just one shot to go in. Coach Mangrum said I was due for a break out game and I guess it happened tonight. We know we need to protect our home court and tonight was a big win for us. This was a true team win tonight."

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE:
• Stampley is the first Trojan to score at least 14 points, grab 12 rebounds and record five blocks since Tom Jervis had 14-12-6 against Paul Quinn College (Nov. 14) back in 2007.
• Troy recorded its second consecutive wire-to-wire victory.
• The Trojans have led 114 minutes and 46 seconds the last three games (120 possible minutes). The Trojans have trailed for just 96 seconds last week at North Alabama.
• Troy has won three consecutive games for the first time since the beginning portion of the 2019-20 campaign (Nov. 30-Dec. 11).
• Led by Waters (9-for-9), the Trojans shot an impressive 20-for-23 (86.7 percent) from the line in the opening period.
• Waters scored at least 10 points in the opening period for the second time in the last three games. Khalyl had 16 in the first half at North Alabama last Thursday.
• The seniors 13 made free throw attempts are the most by a Trojan since Jordan Varnado knocked down 15 against Louisiana back in 2017 (Feb. 11). In that contest, Varnado hit 15-of-18.
• Waters did however see his consecutive free throw streak snapped at 29. The senior missed his first attempt of the second half but proceeded to his final 10.
• His 21 points snapped his career-best (20) that he set last Thursday at North Alabama. The combo guard recorded his second 20-point game of his career, and scored in double-figures in both halves.
• After scoring just eight points in the first period, Zay Williams scored 12 points and grabbed 10 boards in the second period alone. He was 8-of-9 from the line.
• Troy made at least 15 free throws in both periods, and made 36-of-44 free throws. Samford attempted just 17.