Second-Half Surge Not Enough, as Troy Falls at Georgia State

Saturday, February 20

Atlanta, Ga.

3 p.m.

Troy University

10-14,4-10Sun Belt

Georgia State

11-5,5-4Sun Belt

Troy

Georgia St.

Second-Half Surge Not Enough, as Troy Falls at Georgia State

2/20/2021 7:10:00 PM | Basketball (M)

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: Troy Athletics Communications

ATLANTA – Despite cutting a 17-point deficit to just six with 12:15 to play, the Troy men's basketball program fell to the Georgia State Panthers Saturday afternoon at the GSU Sports Arena.

The difference in the contest was 23 Troy (10-14, 4-10) turnovers that resulted in 25 Panthers (11-5, 5-4 Sun Belt) points.

In the loss, the Trojans were paced by freshman Kam Woods (15 points) and Nick Stampley (13 points and eight boards). The double-figure scoring output for Stampley was his eighth contest with at least 10 points in the last nine games. Woods recorded his 12th game with at least 10 points and his first since Jan. 30 against Appalachian State.

After getting outrebounded 35-24 and allowing 13 offensive rebounds last night, the Trojans flipped the script Saturday, outrebounding Georgia State 37-31. The Trojans held GSU to just six offensive rebounds and five second chance points.

Troy got off to a slow start Saturday afternoon, falling behind 11-0 over the first 4:30 of the opening half.

The Trojans shook off the slow start and scored seven of the next nine to cut the Panthers advantage to just 13-7 with 12:04 to play.

Over the next 3:08 of action Justin Roberts and the Panthers scored eight of the next 10 points to take a 21-9 lead with 8:56 to play. Roberts finished the game with 13 points and nine assists.

Junior Rory Pantophlet checked into the game and sparked a mini 9-5 spurt to cut the Panthers lead to just 26-18 with 4:11 to play. Pantophlet scored four of his eight points over that stretch.

Over the final 4:11 of the half, the Panthers used back-to-back triples from Corey Allen and Roberts to score seven of the last 10 points of the period to take a 33-21 lead into the break. 11 of Allen's game-high 16 points came before halftime.

Two free throws and a jumper from Khalyl Waters brought the Trojans to with 35-24 with 18:22 to play, but Georgia State used a 6-0 run over the next 92 seconds to take a game-high 41-24 lead with 16:50 to play.

Needing to respond, the Trojans again turned to Pantophlet. The forward sparked a key 14-3 run over the next 4:25 to cut the 17-point State lead to just six. The stretch included triples from Woods and Desmond Williams as well as two more Pantophlet layups.

Following a timeout from GSU, a Kane Williams triple with the shot clock ticking down sparked a 10-2 Georgia State run that gave the Panthers a 54-40 lead with 9:49 to play.

Another Woods triple brought the Trojans to within 11, but Georgia State held the Trojans to just two points over the next 5:51 to take a decisive 60-45 lead with 3:48 to play.

Back-to-back triples from Stampley brought the Trojans to within 60-51 but a tough jumper from Roberts gave the Panthers a 62-51 lead with 2:47 left.

Down the stretch, the Trojans weren't able to dig into the Panthers lead, as Georgia State held on for a 65-53 victory.

Troy returns to action on Friday night when Coastal Carolina visits Trojan Arena for the final series of the regular season. Tip-off from Trojan Arena is set for 6 p.m.

HEAD COACH SCOTT CROSS:
"We played a lot tougher and harder than we did yesterday, but we shot ourselves in the foot by turning the ball over 23 times. Eight of those turnovers were steals and led to easy buckets for Georgia State. I thought our half-court defense was good. We held them to 42 percent and that includes the easy baskets they got from our turnovers. From a toughness and defensive effort standpoint, I thought it was good enough for us to have success. We just turned the ball over too much. We talk about having less than 12 turnovers in a game, and we didn't do that tonight. The bottom line is we have to be better. It is a problem that is fixable, and I'm glad that our guys played with more toughness and grit tonight. But we need to figure out how to put it all together to be able to turn these losses into wins."

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
• After shooting just 1-for-9 from three in the first half, the Trojans rebounded to make 5-of-10 from distance in the second period.
• Pantophlet's eight points are a new career-high. The forward played almost 10 minutes of action and was a team-best +5 in his minutes
• Woods' 12 double-figure games are the second most on the Trojans this season.
• Stampley recorded his 13th game with double-figures this season, the most on the Troy roster.
• Dez Williams grabbed a career-best seven rebounds.
• The Troy bench outscored GSU 17-3.
• Freshman Duke Miles was held to just one point.
• Miles saw his five-game double-figure streak snapped.