Streak Snapped in Boone

Saturday, January 14

Boone, N.C.

3 p.m.

Troy University

12-7,4-2Sun Belt

Appalachian State

10-9,3-3Sun Belt

Troy

App State

1/14/2023 5:56:00 PM | Basketball (M)

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: Troy Athletics Communications

BOONE, N.C. – A tough night from the field and 16 turnovers resulted in Troy's four-game win streak being snapped at the hands of Appalachian State, 58-45, on Saturday night in the Holmes Convocation Center.

Saturday's loss for the Trojans (12-7, 4-2 SBC) also breaks a four-game win streak over the Mountaineers (10-9, 3-3 SBC), who rise above .500 with their seventh win at home.

Nelson Phillips did his part with his first double-double as a Trojan, finishing with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Zay Williams was two points from joining him as the senior grabbed 10 boards with eight points to boost.

Six Mountaineers ended up scoring, with each ending with at least seven points. Terence Harcum stood above the rest with 15 points on eight made shots from the charity stripe.

Struggling From the Field
Nate Tshimanga provided needed relief off the bench in his return, using the spin move to find his way to the basket for the and-one opportunity with 8:22 remaining, 39-35 – missed free throw attempt.

With Christian Turner missing the second-chance jump shot, Justin Abson seized the board and passed it to Xavion Brown. Brown dished it to Christopher Mantis, who struck from deep at the 12:26 mark of the second, 42-35.

Brown hit again with an immediate response from Tshimanga with 6:12 left to keep the margin stagnant at seven, 44-37. CJ Huntley then converted two free throws to open a 6-0 run that ended when Abson took the pass from Brown and slammed it down for a 13-point lead with 3:05 left, 50-37.

Troy battled to trim the deficit back to seven, 52-45, off a second-chance layup from Williams with 0:33 left. However, six makes from the charity stripe in the remaining time secured the 58-45 victory. Overall, in the last 11:51, Troy shot 4-of-21 (19 percent) to suffer the loss.

Bounce Back in the First
The Trojans found themselves on a three-minute scoring drought where the Mountaineers pushed their lead to 10, 18-8, when Donovan Gregory stole the ball from Kieffer Punter and drove inside for the two-point bucket – 8:51 left in the first.

A timeout by Troy allowed it to regroup and draw up the play for Phillips. Aamer Muhammad took the inbound and found an open Phillips, who drilled his shot from deep to revive the Trojans with 8:39 remaining, 18-11.

At the 12:55 mark of the first, Darius McNeill took the ball inside to draw the defense. On his way inside, McNeill found Muhammad at the top for another 3-pointer, 18-14.

Gregory and Phillips went back and forth with makes until Muhammad was sent to the line on the fastbreak with 5:06 remaining. After both shots were made, the Trojans kept App to only one basket to head into halftime down five, 25-20.

Head Coach Scott Cross
"I think mentally we weren't quite where we needed to be, offensively. That led to mistakes. Anytime you look at the turnover column, and we have 16, you know something is off. App State played great defense, but they aren't a team that creates a lot of turnovers with it typically. They pack it in and make it tough to shoot over them. So, for those turnovers, they were unforced turnovers. I thought that was the big difference. We obviously didn't hit shots, but from a defensive side, the toughness and rebounding were good enough to win this basketball game. We held them to 35 percent. We just didn't make shots."

Streak Snapped Stats
• With the opening bucket against App State, Williams scored his 1,020^th point to eclipse Lamayn Wilson for eighth in program Division-I career points.
• Williams became second on the Division-I all-time career rebounds list after grabbing five rebounds in the first half, overtaking Rob Lewin with 697.
• Phillips ended with the first double-double for a Trojan with points and rebounds, scoring 12 points with 11 rebounds.
• Troy took its first loss of the season when holding the opponent under 40 percent shooting from the field. Before tonight, Troy was 8-0 overall and 4-0 in the conference.
• For the first time since conference play started, the Trojans outrebounded the opponent 45-40.

Another First-Ever Matchup
Following their game at Boone, the Trojans travel back to Trojan Arena for a two-game homestand that opens on Thursday at 6 p.m. against James Madison for the first time in program history.