Troy, Ala. - Today in basketball action, the Alabama State University Hornets battled the Trojans of Troy.
The Trojans (4-3) would hold off the Hornets 85-69. Troy would have four players in double figures, led by Kevin Thomas who turned in a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
Antoine Myers also recorded 19 points, on 6-10 shooting from the field. Jeff Mullahey would add 16 points, knocking down three of his five attempts from behind the arc. Hinton would add 11.
In the second half, the Trojans looked to capitalize on their half time lead and would hold on to the lead the entire second half.
ASU (3-3) would get as close as three 50-47, with 15:03 left in regulation, when Demarcus Robinson would get a tip-in off of missed lay-up by
Bobby Brown. Robinson led all Hornets scorers with 17 points, 5-13 shooting and connecting on all six of his opportunities from the free throw line.
Troy would push the lead to as much as 16, 81-65, in the second half, hitting on 55 percent of their shots from the field.
"It was a tough day. They were a little more aggressive than us," head coach
Lewis Jackson said. "We started a little slow and couldn't get our shots to fall early."
The Trojans got on the scoreboard first on a lay-up by Wes Hinton, but a lay-up by ASU's
Maurice Strong would give the ballgame its first tie at two just under a minute into the ballgame.
The Hornets would gain their first lead of the ballgame 8-7, on a jumper by
Luther Page at the 17:59 mark.
The lead changed hands twice before the Trojans, with a one point lead 11-10, went on an 11-0 run that would push the score to 22-10 at the 10:56 mark and give the Trojans their largest lead of the first half.
The Hornets would whittle away at the Troy lead getting as close as two, with 5:01 on the clock, as Robinson knocked a three pointer to make the score read 30-28.
That would be as close as the Hornets would get in the first half, as Troy pushed the lead back to seven 41-34, and would take that lead into the locker room for the intermission.
The Hornets outscored the Trojans on points off of turnovers, 19-8, but would lose the edge on points in the paint (42-34), second chance points (12-11), and in bench scoring (29-11).
Jamel Waters would add 14, on 50 percent shooting, going 6-12 from the field.
Maurice Strong, despite fouling out, chipped in with 10.
Both
Luther Page and
Bobby Brown would grab seven rebounds apiece, respectively.
"Our defense was off today. We've got to do a better job of defending the basketball," said Jackson. "Being off for the last two and a half weeks had us not as sharp as we could've been. It's part of the game and we have to go back to the drawing board."
Next up for the Hornets will be a home match-up against Western Illinois December 16. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
