Dylan Hurst Staff Writer The Trojans couldn’t stop Little Rock’s offense-heavy second half scoring and fell 84-70 in Sun Belt Conference play at Trojan Arena on Thursday night. Troy recorded a good shooting average in the game at 26-of-53 (49%), but Little Rock’s offense was great after entering the second half, with 22-of-28 (78%) overall and 7-of-9 (77%) on three-point shots. Sophomore Javan Johnson led the Trojans in scoring with 16 points which included four threes made. He also added six rebounds and a career-high three steals to his game stats. Fellow sophomore Darian Adams scored 15 points along with four assists and two rebounds while sophomore Malik Burnett scored a career-high 10 points on 3-of-3 shots for three points. Troy lost the early lead to Little Rock and trailed by 8 points (20-12) with about 10 minutes remaining in the first half. The Trojans then went on an 16-0 run in five minutes to gain the lead and go into halftime with a 36-30 lead. Early in the second half, Little Rock’s high-powered offense started the scoring early and tied the game at 40 each. With 15 minutes reaming in regulation, Little Rock took a 43-40 lead and never gave it up to complete their sweep of Troy. The Trojans then snapped a four-game losing streak behind the career-night of sophomore Javan Johnson to beat Arkansas State 84-79 in Sun Belt Conference action in Trojan Arena on Saturday afternoon. The Trojans shot 29-of-53 (54%) from the field and 12-of-26 from behind the arc while holding Arkansas State to only five three-point shots made to complete their regular-season sweep of Arkansas State. Johnson led the Trojans in scoring with 20 points, a new career-high, and shot 6-of-10 (60%) from the field with four made three-point shots. Johnson added six rebounds, two assists and a block to his game stats. Senior Alex Hicks narrowly missed a double-double after scoring 19 points and recording nine rebounds. Sophomore Darian Adams scored 12 points including 4-of-4 free throws while freshman Spencer Rodgers scored a career-high tying 12 points including a career-high four three-point shots made. The game was neck-and-neck during the entirety of the first half as there were three lead changes and a tied score six times. Freshman Zay Williams gave the Trojans the 36-34 lead going into halftime after a dunk. Right after the start of the second half, Arkansas State answered quickly with a layup to tie the game for the seventh time. Hicks responded with a three-point shot to give Troy a 39-36 lead with 19 minutes remaining that Troy wouldn’t give up. The Trojans held a commanding 15-point lead (64-49) with nine minutes remaining. However, Arkansas State wasn’t done with scoring, mounting a 25-13 run to come within three of the lead (77-74) with 1:45 remaining. Over the next few possessions, Troy made five of six free throws to secure the win. The Trojans will travel to Georgia next week and face Georgia State on Wednesday at 6 p.m. on ESPN+ before taking on Georgia Southern on Friday at 8 p.m. on ESPN2.
Staff Writer
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