Trojans split conference games, Lady Trojans sweep

Both the Troy Trojans and Lady Trojans faced off against Georgia Southern and Georgia State in Sun Belt action last week with the Lady Trojans earning a pair of wins, while the Trojans split the games.

The Trojans (8-12, 4-5) fell to Georgia State on Jan. 16 by a score of 82-66 in a disappointing home loss but then bounced back to pick up a 75-65 win over Georgia State at home on Jan. 18.

Georgia Southern shot 53.6 percent from the field as Troy struggled, especially from the three-point line shooting just 25 percent from behind the arc.

Troy was led by junior Nick Stampley with 17 points and seven rebounds in the loss, while freshman Desmond Williams continued his stellar rookie campaign with 14 points.

Troy was able to bounce back against Georgia State and knocked down 12-of-28 three-point attempts, while shooting 42.4 percent from the field. The Trojans also held Georgia State to 35.4 percent shooting in the win.

The Trojans were led by Ty Gordon’s career-high 20 points, four rebounds and six assists, while KJ Simon chipped in with 16 points and nine rebounds. Williams also had a solid outing with 13 points and six rebounds.

The Trojans hit the road on Jan. 22 for a conference matchup with Little Rock before hosting Arkansas State at home on Jan. 25.

The Lady Trojans (14-3, 5-1) continued their dominant conference play with a pair of road wins against Georgia Southern on Jan. 16 and Georgia State on Jan. 18.

The Lady Trojans knocked off Georgia Southern 79-69 after struggling to start out. The Lady Trojans fell behind 19-18 after the first quarter, but utterly dominated Georgia Southern in the second quarter and outscored them 22-3 to take a 41-21 lead into halftime. Despite Georgia Southern outscoring Troy 28-26 in the third quarter and 19-13 in the fourth quarter, that first half lead was too much to overcome.

Japonica James led Troy with 19 points, four steals and five rebounds, while Tyasia Moore added 12 points and nine rebounds. Jasmine Robinson chipped in with 10 points in the win.

The Lady Trojans followed that up with a dominating 71-57 win over Georgia State on Jan. 18.

The Lady Trojans never trailed in the win and outrebounded Georgia State 54-31.

Amber Rivers led Troy with 13 points, six rebounds and three blocks, while James scored 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds.

Both Alexus Dye and Harriet Winchester contributed 11 points each, which Winchester also had eight rebounds. Dye had six rebounds.

The Lady Trojans will host Texas State on Jan. 23 and UT-Arlington on Jan. 25.