Late Charge Comes Up Just Short, as Troy Falls to South Alabama

Friday, February 7

Troy, Ala.

8 p.m.

Troy University

9-16,5-9Sun Bel

South Alabama

14-11,7-7Sun Be

South Alabama

Troy

Photo by: Chris Davis

Late Charge Comes Up Just Short, as Troy Falls to South Alabama

2/7/2020 11:25:00 PM | Basketball (M)

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Photos (Chris Davis)Photo Gallery

By: Troy Athletics Communications

TROY, Ala. -- In front of an electric crowd of 4,523 at Trojan Arena Friday night, the Troy Trojans men's basketball program fell to in-state rival South Alabama 70-66.

The Trojans (9-16, 5-9 Sun Belt Conference) who cut a 67-60 South Alabama (14-11, 7-7 Sun Belt Conference) advantage to just 67-66 with 61 seconds to go, forced a tough 3-pointer from Herb McGee that clanged off the rim.

On the ensuing scrum for the rebound, Chatt Lott secured the rebound for the Jaguars and found teammate Andre Fox who was fouled by Desmond Williams. The foul was Williams' fifth of the ballgame.

Fox stepped to the line and made both ends of the one-and-one to give the visitors a 69-66 lead with 18 seconds to go.

After a South Alabama timeout, the Trojans found Ty Gordon, whose 3-point attempt just missed the mark.

Lott grabbed the defensive rebound off of the Gordon miss and was fouled with 1.5 seconds to go. The graduate student made one-of-two free-throw attempts to ice the game.

In defeat, four different Trojans reached double figures, led by Williams who scored 14 points (5-of-9 FG, 4-of-7 3-point), and Ty Gordon who narrowly missed a triple-double, scoring 10 points with 6 rebounds and 8 assists. Sophomore Tahj Small continued his strong play as of late scoring a career-best 12 points and 8 rebounds, while Stampley scored 10 points on efficient 5-of-6 shooting.

For the game Troy shot 36 of 60 field-goal attempts from behind the 3-point arc, hitting 11 (30.6 percent) of those attempts.

South Alabama started quickly Friday night, scoring 14 points over the first 3:55 to take a 14-9 lead into the first media time.

Troy would quickly answer the South run with a 7-2 run to cut the lead to two points (18-16) with 13:34 remaining.

After a Davion Thomas ally-oop from Gordon cut the Jaguars lead to just 22-21, the visitors used a quick 7-0 burst to take a 29-21 advantage with 9:54 remaining.

The two teams continued to trade haymakers down the closing moments of the first period, but the Trojans couldn't cut the South Alabama lead to fewer than six points, as South Alabama took a 42-34 advantage into the break.

In the second half, Troy used a quick 11-4 run to cut the South Alabama lead to just 46-45 with 13:43 remaining.

Sensing the momentum slipping, the visitors quickly extended the lead back to eight points (53-45) with 12 minutes to play in the game.

After a jumper gave South Alabama a 61-52 lead with 8:06 remaining, the Trojans dominated the next four minutes, using an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to just 61-60 with 4:33 left.

Once again, the Jaguars were up to the task, using a 6-0 spurt over the next two minutes to take a 67-61 lead with just over two minutes to play.

Highlighted by 3-pointers from Adams and Gordon, the Trojans retaliated with a 6-0 run to cut the advantage to one with 61 seconds remaining.

Troy would not score over the final 61 seconds, as the Jaguars used three clutch free throws to hold on for a four-point victory.

Troy's season-long three-game homestand continues next weekend when ULM visits Trojan Arena for a Thursday night matchup. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.

HEAD COACH SCOTT CROSS:
"In the first half, I didn't think our guys played with the defensive intensity we needed. South Alabama shot 53 percent from the field which isn't good enough. In the second half, we played our hearts out. We played about as hard as we could, and I thought we did a pretty good job of attacking their zone in the second half. We were right there at the end. We missed a rebound after we did a perfect job of defending them. We just couldn't get over the hump. I was happy with how our guys competed in the second half. We just have to find a way to pull these sorts of games out. South Alabama is really good at getting to the free-throw line. Ajayi is a man-child down there and Trahe Mitchell is one of the best athletes in the league. They're really athletic and do a great job of driving. Our margin is incredibly small as a team. We need to put together complete, 40-minute efforts on the defensive end. Tonight, we put together maybe 26 or 27 minutes of good defense."

On the crowd:
"The crowd was awesome tonight and gave us a huge lift. South was up seven or eight points in the second half, then I thought our crowd brought us back into it. We started picking up our pressure and South Alabama looked rattled for a moment. The crowd made a huge difference for us. I wish we could have rewarded them with a win, but unfortunately, we didn't get it done."

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
• Tonight's crowd was the second-largest crowd of the season.
• Troy had won four straight and six of seven games where they hit 10 3-pointers. The Trojans hit 11 tonight.
• The 36 3-point attempts are the most Troy has taken all season. The previous high was 31 against Little Rock (Jan. 9)
• After scoring 10 points in the first half, Stampley attempted just one shot and didn't score in 14 minutes of action in the second half.
• Gordon extended his double-figure streak to six straight games.
• The junior has scored 97 points over that span.
• Gordon's eight assists tie his career-best (Chattanooga, 11/12).
• Williams has now hit nine 3-pointers in his last two games.
• The Trojans held South Alabama to just 11-for-29 shooting (37.9 percent) and to 1-of-8 from downtown.
• Troy is holding its opponents to just 3-of-26 from 3-point range in the second half the last two games.
• Opponents have scored just 57 points in those two halves.
• Small's previous career-high was 11 set back at Arkansas State (Jan. 11).