Late Comeback Propels Trojans to Series Sweep Over Georgia State

Saturday, February 1

Atlanta, Ga.

1 p.m.

Troy University

9-15,5-8Sun Bel

Georgia State

15-8,8-4Sun Bel

Troy

Georgia St.

Photo by: Chris Davis

Late Comeback Propels Trojans to Series Sweep Over Georgia State

2/1/2020 5:29:00 PM | Basketball (M)

Box Score Head Coach Scott Cross Presser Box Score (PDF)

By: Troy Athletics Communications

ATLANTA -- Behind a fantastic effort from Ty Gordon, KJ Simon and Desmond Williams the Troy Trojans handed Georgia State its first home loss of the season Saturday afternoon at the GSU Sports Arena, earning a wild 84-78 victory over the Panthers.

Down 72-65 with 5:10 to play, the Trojans (9-15, 5-8 Sun Belt) outscored Georgia State 13-6 down the stretch to earn the series-sweep over the Panthers.

The key shot in the stretch was delivered by Davion Thomas, whose corner 3-pointer with 53 ticks remaining gave Troy a 77-74 lead.

After a second chance put back cut the Troy advantage to just 77-76, Ty Gordon blew past the GSU defense for a layup that put Troy up 79-76.

On the ensuing possession, Kane Williams grabbed an offensive board and connected on a layup that trimmed the Trojan advantage to just 79-78.

Needing to inbound the basketball, the Trojans found Nick Stampley, who was fouled with 11 seconds to go. The foul was the Panthers' sixth team foul, so Troy once again faced a baseline inbound situation.

Des Williams found Tahj Small who went to the line for a one-and-one free throw that he missed off the front of the rim.

Georgia State grabbed the rebound and drove down the length of the floor, as Troy contested a Roberts layup that bounced off the rim with just under two seconds to play.

After a pair of free throws by Williams put Troy up 81-78, Williams stole the ensuing Georgia State inbound play and hit a 3-pointer that beat the buzzer.

Gordon (24 points, 4 assists), Williams (23 points, 5-10 3-point and 8-10 FT) and Simon (14 points, 10 rebounds) combined for 61 points, 8 assists and 11 3-pointers for the game.

Saturday's matchup got off to a flying start, as Troy took an 11-8 lead into the first media timeout of the afternoon.

After a Gordon 3-pointer gave the Trojans a 17-13 advantage with 13:40 remaining, Georgia State used a 12-3 burst to take a 25-20 lead with 11:55 to play in the first half.

Troy answered with a mini 8-3 run to tie the ballgame up at 28-28 with 9:46 remaining.

The game was still tied (41-41) with four minutes to go, when Troy used a 9-4 run, highlighted by back-to-back Williams triples, to take a 52-45 lead with 85 seconds left.

The Panthers held Troy scoreless the rest of the half, using a pair of baskets to cut the Troy advantage to just 52-49 at the break.

In the first half, Troy shot 17-of-31 (54.8 percent) overall and made 10-of-19 (52.6 percent) 3-point attempts. Williams scored a game-high 18 points in the first period, while Gordon and Simon each added 10.

After halftime, Georgia State opened the half on a 7-2 run to take 56-54 lead with 17:38 to go.

Over the next seven minutes of action, the teams scored just 13 combined points, as GSU enjoyed a one-point advantage with less than 10 minutes to play.

With the score tied at 65 with 8:20 left, Georgia State tried to pull away, taking the 72-65 lead with 5:10 remaining.

Needing to respond, Troy dialed up a quick 7-0 burst, tying the game at 74 just two minutes and seven seconds later.

Both sides had opportunities down the stretch, but neither side was able to find a bucket until Thomas' 3-pointer with 53 seconds gave Troy the 77-74 advantage.

Troy executed down the stretch, using the 10-4 run to hold on for a six-point victory.

After allowing Georgia State to shoot 19-of-36 (52.8 percent) from the field the first half, Troy limited the Panthers to just 11-of-40 (27.5 percent) shooting and 2-of-18 (11.1 percent) from deep in the second half.

Troy returns to action Friday night for a nationally televised (ESPN2) matchup against in-state rival South Alabama. Tip-off from Trojan Arena is set for 8 p.m.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
• Troy outscored Georgia St 159-143 in the two matchups this season.
• The two teams combined for 101 first-half points.
• The Trojans hit 26 3-pointers in those two games.
• Gordon has now scored 87 points over the last five games (17.4 per game).
• Williams scored 18 of his 23 points in the first half. His 23 points are a career high.
• Gordon's 24 points are the most a Trojan has scored this season.
• The 24 points are the most since Jordan Varnado scored 33 at Louisiana back on Jan. 26, 2019.
• Gordon was 3-of-4 from the floor in the final three minutes of the game. He scored 14 of his 24 in the second half.
• Troy had a pair of 20-point scorers for the first time this season.
• Today's game had eight lead changes and was tied 11 different times.
• Outside of Allen, Troy held GSU's players to 4-of-21 (19 percent).
• Allen scored a game-high 25 for GSU.
• Tahj Small added six points, 10 rebounds and four assists. The 10 rebounds are a career high, while the four assists tie his career best (Shorter, Nov. 30).
• Troy swept the season series with Georgia State for just the second time. Troy swept GSU back in 2017-18.
• The Trojans are 8-3 in their last 11 matchups against Georgia State.

HEAD COACH SCOTT CROSS:
"Our guys hit shots today. Des and Ty both had awesome games. And then KJ hit a couple of threes for us. Nick [Stampley] and Tree [Thomas] did a great job holding down the fort for us. KJ and Tahj [Small] grabbed rebounds and hit shots. It was a collective team effort for us. It was definitely the biggest win of the year. Georgia State is a top-100 team in the NET ratings, Ken Pom ratings and just about every system you can find. So it's the biggest win for us. I told them after the game that adversity reveals your character, and today's effort showed the character of this basketball team. I'm so glad they brought their best effort tonight. We needed it every single possession tonight. I'm super proud of them because they played together. We went through a little cold spell in the second half where it looked like we weren't moving defensively. For us to do this on the road against a quality team is a huge step forward for this program."

On what the win means for the program:
"Every day we're building our culture, and we're either improving and getting tougher or we're getting softer and taking a step in the wrong direction. This win is a giant step in the right direction because our guys were able to overcome being short-handed. This showed the value of every guy on our roster. There were a few players who made key contributions tonight that weren't even playing much earlier in the year, now they're starting for us. We all really stepped up and carried their weight. It shows what a collective unit can do because Georgia State is really good. They were on fire in the first half and there was nothing we could do. The first half was two teams going back-and-forth, but I'm so proud of our team."