( Photo / Troy Athletics )
Desmond Williams dribbles into the key on Saturday against a Georgia Southern defender. Troy split the games this weekend 1-1.
Hanna Cooper
Editor-In-Chief
The Troy men’s basketball team split the home series against Georgia Southern last weekend in Trojan Arena.
The Trojans gathered the win on Friday night, 68-56, before falling in the series finale on Saturday, 79-64.
The trio of Duke Miles, Jakevan Leftridge and Nick Stampley proved to be the difference Friday for the Trojans.
Miles recorded a career-best 20 points, nailed his final six attempts from the charity stripe and contributed a career-best eight assists while Leftridge contributed nine vital second half points.
However, Nick Stampley stole the show contributing 20 points and 11 rebounds to turn in his fifth double-double of the season.
“This was one of our better defensive performances of the year,” said Head Coach Scott Cross. “The guys really stepped up.
“Nick is always going to be really good defensively, but Jakevan was awesome tonight. The way he was getting deflections, rotating and getting steals really gave us a boost.”
After trailing by five to start the game, the Trojans dominated the rest of the opening quarter of play.
It was the second half that constructed the story of the game as the Eagles chipped away at Troy’s lead. The Eagles scored 10 of 12 to cut the Troy lead to just 45-38 with 9:09 to play.
But, Leftridge made two crucial shots of the night, including a nailed circus left-handed floater in the lane with 8:41 left to play and a corner triple with 6:30 to play that increased the Trojan advantage back to 50-40.
The Trojans held on firm to the double-digit lead to close out Friday with a victory.
However, the narrative flipped in the last game of the series as Georgia Southern led by as many as 21 throughout the first half.
The Trojans orchestrated a furious second half comeback that cut the Georgia Southern lead to just 10 with 6:13 to play and to nine with 3:41 to play, but a pair of runs from the Eagles sealed the victory.
However, Zay Williams surpassed a major career milestone after reaching the 500-point mark. Williams contributed 15 points and 11 rebounds in the contest.
Troy travels next to Mobile, Alabama, for a Thursday night matchup with in-state rival South Alabama. Tip off is set for 6 p.m.