JONESBORO (1/19/08) ? The Arkansas State men's basketball team had a season-high five players score in double figures, but it wasn't enough as the Indians dropped an 89-80 decision to Sun Belt Conference East Division foe Troy Saturday night at the Convocation Center.
ASU, which is now 8-10 overall and 3-5 in league play, has suffered back-to-back losses for the first time since dropping its first three games of the season. Troy snapped a three-game skid with the victory and improved to 9-9 overall and 2-5 in Sun Belt action.
ASU finished with a slightly higher field goal percentage, grabbed one more rebound and hit 12 shots from beyond the arc to tie its season high, but Troy turned 15 ASU turnovers into 24 points and made 23-of-24 free throws to pull out the nine-point victory.
“Anytime you lose at home it's a disappointing feeling, but I was proud of the way our guys fought,” said ASU Head Coach Dickey Nutt. “We have to roll up our sleeves and go to work. We are still a good team. We need to fix some things, obviously, and get some people well. But still, we had some guys play well tonight. We faced a hot-shooting team and their free-throw shooting was the difference.”
Trailing 40-34 at halftime, ASU hit a three-pointer on each of its first three possessions to start the second half with a 9-0 run and take its first lead since holding a 32-30 advantage with 3:23 remaining in the first half. The Indians held between a one and five point lead until Troy's O'Darien Bassett hit a jumper with 9:13 remaining that gave the Trojans a 56-55 advantage.
With the score tied 59-59, Troy hit back-to-back treys to take the lead for good and slowly extended its lead to nine points, 72-63, with 4:27 left in the game. ASU managed to get back within 74-70 at the 3:13 mark, but couldn't get any closer as Troy hit 12 free throws the rest of the way to hold on.
ASU shot 45 percent from the field in comparison to Troy's .435 field goal percentage, grabbed 36 rebounds to the Trojans' 35 and finished with nine more assists, but turned the ball over four more times and finished with five fewer steals.
Playing without its leading rebounder Shawn Morgan, who also leads the team in steals and is averaging 8.8 points per game, ASU had five players score at least 12 points. Adrian Banks and Ryan Wedel finished with a team-best 18 points each, while Yima Chia-Kur and Mike Lance both recorded 14 points. Kewain Gant added 12 points and tied Ashton Farmer for the most rebounds with nine.
Troy's Justin Jonus countered with a game-high 30 points and Bassett finished with 24. Both players went a perfect 10-of-10 at the charity stripe. Trayce Macon was the only other Troy player finishing in double figures with 16 points.
ASU wraps up a two-game home stand when it hosts Florida International on Thursday, Jan. 24, at 7:05 p.m.
