Men’s basketball splits home stand with top Sun Belt foes

(Photo/Chris Wallace)Freshman guard Desmond Williams drives the paint against Georgia State’s Justin Roberts in Troy’s upset win over the Panthers in Trojan Arena. Williams had 13 points on an efficient 5-9 shooting from the field and two 3-pointers. Williams also added six rebounds and an assist on Saturday.Dylan HurstStaff Writer The Troy’s men’s basketball team split its games against Georgia Southern and Georgia State in a homestand against two of the top Sun Belt Conference teams. After last weekend’s games, the Trojans’ record moved to 8-12 overall and 4-5 in the Sun Belt Conference. Against Georgia Southern, junior Nick Stampley had a career game and recorded a career-high 17 points and seven rebounds, falling just short of a double-double, while freshman Desmond Williams recorded 14 points on the night. The Trojans’ defense had an off game, allowing Georgia Southern to shoot 53.6% from the field. Troy took a 10-6 lead early in the game, and Stampley soon made a 2-point shot and increased the team’s lead to 12-6. Georgia Southern then went on an 8-0 run to take a 14-12 lead with 13 minutes left in the first half.Troy then broke Georgia Southern’s run with a 3-point shot to take a 15-14 lead. Georgia Southern went on another run, this time scoring 19-6 points, to take a 33-21 lead with six minutes remaining.With two minutes remaining, Troy scored two consecutive 3-point shots to get within six points of Georgia Southern’s lead with a score of 43-35 at halftime. Troy went on a 7-4 scoring run to get within five points of Georgia Southern’s 47-42 lead with 17 minutes remaining. With 10 minutes remaining, Georgia Southern went on a 19-10 run to take a commanding 16-point lead. Throughout the remainder of the game, Troy couldn’t get any closer than 13 points to Georgia Southern’s lead. On Saturday, the Trojans bounced back and defeated current Sun Belt Conference leader Georgia State 75-65 in Trojan Arena alongside two career-high scoring nights for junior Ty Gordon and sophomore KJ Simon. Gordon scored 20 points alongside four rebounds and six assists while Simon recorded 16 points alongside nine rebounds and three assists. Desmond Williams also had another solid game, recording 13 points alongside six rebounds. The Trojans once again had a fast start, jumping out to a 10-5 lead with 16 minutes remaining in the first half. Georgia State then went on a 17-8 run to take the lead 22-18 with 10 minutes remaining. Troy returned the action with the team’s own, out-scoring Georgia State 9-1 over the next 6 minutes to give themselves a 27-23 lead with only 4 minutes remaining in the first half. Georgia State scored four unanswered points to tie the game at 27, while both teams then made two three-point shots to tie the game at 33 at halftime. After halftime, Georgia State went on an 8-2 run to take a 41-35 lead with 15 minutes remaining. The Trojans answered with another 8-2 run to tie the game at 43 with 12 minutes remaining. Georgia State scored 12 points to Troy’s seven over the next five minutes to take a lead of 55-50 with fewer than eight minutes remaining. Troy then exploded on offense, going on a 17-8 run to take a 67-58 lead with only two minutes remaining. Over the next two minutes, Georgia State scored only seven points against Troy’s stout defense while the team’s offense stretched the lead to 75-65 to end the game.The Trojans return to action on Saturday to face the Arkansas State Red Wolves in Trojan Arena. The Little Rock Trojans currently lead the Sun Belt Conference standings with a 7-2 conference record and 13-7 overall record. The Trojans are in a three-way tie for seventh place with a 4-5 record.