Courtesy of Troy University
It was a game of runs, as Troy men's basketball(5-8, 0-1 SBC) fell to Georgia State (8-6, 1-0 SBC), 81-72, in its first SunBelt Conference game of the season.
"We had 23 turnovers. They scored 33 points off thoseturnovers," said head coach Phil Cunningham. "We're doing so many otherthings well. You can see the character in these guys. They nevergave up. They kept going, but that's too many turnovers."
The Trojans trailed by 16 points early in the second half butbattled back to cut the lead to single digits. Troy would go on to cutthe lead to single digits several times, but couldn't seem to get closer thansix points. Georgia State was solid in the closing minutes, maintainingthe lead.
Hunter Williams show well on the night, hitting 6-of-9 frombeyond the arc and finishing with 18 points. It was the second time thisseason that Williams hit six 3's in a game.
Kevin Thomas pulled in his third double-double of the season,finishing with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Antoine Myers also scored indouble figures, finishing with 14 points.
As a team, the Trojans shot 46.8 percent (22-of-47) from thefield and 50 percent (9-of-18) from beyond the arc. Troy outreboundedGeorgia State 36-22 on the night.
R.J. Hunter and Ryan Harrow paced the Panthers, scoring 25 and20 points, respectively. Center Curtis Washington made his shots count,as he went 4-of-5 for 10 points.
The Trojans trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half,but used an 11-0 run to narrow the lead to just four. Georgia State wouldgo on a run of its own, growing the lead to 13 points at the half.
The Trojans return home to face Western Kentucky on Saturday at12 p.m. The game will be televised live by the Sun Belt Network.