Late Run Pushes Trojans to Victory over App State

Friday, January 29

Troy, Ala.

6 p.m.

Troy University

7-9,2-5Sun Belt

Appalachian State

12-6,6-3Sun Belt

Appalachian St.

Troy

Late Run Pushes Trojans to Victory over App State

1/29/2021 10:47:00 PM | Basketball (M)

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Press Conference (HC Scott Cross, Duke Miles, Nick Stampley)Photo Gallery

By: Troy Athletics Communications

TROY, Ala. -- Troy hit its final 10 free-throw attempts of the evening, and freshman Duke Miles nailed his final six attempts to push the Troy men's basketball program to a wire-to-wire 71-62 victory over first-place Appalachian State Friday night at Trojan Arena.

The Trojans, who improved to 4-0 this season at Trojan Arena, held the potent Mountaineer attack to just 2-of-19 shooting from behind the arc, and to just 20-of-60 (33.3 percent) shooting overall.

Senior Nick Stampley led the way for the Trojans early scoring 12 of his career-best 23 points in the first half, while Miles struck for 10 of his career-best 17 in the second period. The freshman from Montgomery was a perfect 2-of-2 from the field and hit all six of his free-throw attempts in the half.

Senior Khalyl Waters joined the aforementioned duo in double-figures, scoring 10 points in 23 minutes of action, while Kam Woods added eight.

Returning home for the first time in almost five weeks, the Trojans (7-9, 2-5 Sun Belt) started quickly Friday night, scoring the first six points of the game and 10 of the first 13 points to take a 10-3 lead.

App State scored six of the next eight to cut the Troy lead to just 12-9, but the Trojans used a free throw from Miles Mendes and five quick points from Woods to take an 18-9 lead with 11:50 to play.

A layup from Desmond Williams and a pair of free throws extended the Trojan's advantage to a game-high (22-11) 11, but App State would answer with a 17-6 run to cut the Troy lead to just 28-25 with 4:25 to play.

Needing a run, the Trojans used a layup from Stampley and five quick points from Miles, to extend the lead to 35-25 with 2:34 to play.

Over the final 154 seconds, App State scored five of the final seven to cut the Trojan's advantage to 37-30 at the break.

After halftime, App State scored four of the first six to cut the Troy lead to just 39-34 with 17:54 to play.

Stampley used a free throw and a triple to extend the Trojan lead to 43-34, but Michael Almoncy and the Mountaineers (12-6, 6-3 Sun Belt) scored eight of the next nine to cut the Troy lead to 44-43 with 13:29 to play.

Over the next 9:41 of game action, the two teams went ice cold from the field, as Troy outscored App State 12-10, to hold a slim 56-53 advantage with 3:48 to play.

Miles floater with 3:27 to play coupled with a nice pass from Woods to Stampley for a layup gave the Trojans a 60-53 lead with 2:39 to play.

The Trojans due in large part to the 10 consecutive makes from the charity stripe, saw their lead go no lower than six down the stretch, holding on for a 71-62 victory.

With the victory, Troy snapped its five-game losing streak overall and a five-game Sun Belt home losing streak. It was the Trojans first home SBC victory since Jan. 18, 2020, against Georgia State (75-65)

Troy goes for the season series victory over the Mountaineers tomorrow afternoon at 4 p.m.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
• Stampley recorded his first career 20-point game and the ninth by a Trojan this season.
• Woods has the most 20-point games (4), followed by Zay Williams (2) and Waters (2).
• Miles is the seventh different Trojan to reach double-figures in a game.
• Waters hit all four of his free throw attempts tonight and is now shooting an impressive 52-of-57 (91.2 percent) from the line this season.
• The Trojans held the Mountaineers to just 2-of-19 from distance and to just 1-of-12 shooting the second period.
• App's two made 3-pointers are the fewest that Troy has allowed since Coastal Carolina also made just two back on Mar. 9, 2019. In that game, the Trojans held the Chants to 2-of-17.
• The 10.5 percent shooting from behind the arc is the worst percentage an opponent has shot since Brewton-Parker was held to just 1-of-17 (5.9 percent) back on Nov. 14, 2014.
• Stampley has now scored 57 points in three games against the Mountaineers this season.
• Woods was held to just eight points. It snaps his 20-point streak at two and marked the first time since Jan. 1 also against App State that the freshman was held below 10 points.
• The Trojans improve to 3-3 on Friday's this season. Troy will look to record its first Saturday victory over the season tomorrow. The Trojans are 0-5 on Saturdays so far this season (all on the road).

HEAD COACH SCOTT CROSS:
"I'm super proud of the guys, and it was one of the best performances of the season and we did it on both sides of the ball. Tonight, was the toughest we've played all season. We did a great job of breaking through screens and we were really resilient defensively. And then we great offensively. Our guys did a great job of making good decisions. It was one of if not the best win of the season. My staff and I spend a lot of time working with and preparing our guys and working on the fundamentals. Tonight, Duke missed his first three, but then he stepped up and shot his second one with confidence and it went in. We knew it was just a matter of time before he and other guys started to make shots. I know this team will continue to get better as the season progresses, and it was nice to finally get some results. We knew we were playing better we just weren't getting the results we wanted."

On finally returning home:
"The home crowd definitely helped us tonight during the stretches where we didn't score or play our best. They gave us some energy and it was nice to be here. Our guys are just more comfortable here. It's nice to sleep in your own bed and wake up on gameday and be able to get shots up versus traveling for eight hours. It lets you stay in rhythm I believe."