Troy rallies to beat Arkansas State 79-77

It took a late comeback, but Troy took down Sun Belt opponent Arkansas State 79-77 Thursday night in Trojan Arena.

With the win, the Trojans move to 17-7 overall and 8-3 in Sun Belt play. The Red Wolves fall to 15-8 overall, 6-5 in conference.

Efe Odigie led the Trojans with 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor. He also finished 3-of-5 at the free throw line. Desmond Williams finished with 18 points and Duke Deen added 13.

For Arkansas State, Norchad Omier led the way, scoring a career-high 31 points on 12-of-16 shooting and 7-of-9 at the free throw line. Marquis Eaton added 14 of his own and Caleb Fields scored 12.

The Trojans and Red Wolves went back and forth early. Troy took its first lead with 17:44 left in the first half as Odigie scored to make it 6-4. Neither team pulled away until closer to halftime.

With 11:19 left in the half, the Trojans trimmed the deficit to 19-16 on a three point shot from Williams. From there on, Arkansas State controlled the remaining minutes heading into the locker room.

The Red Wolves outscored the Trojans 16-13 the final 11 minutes of the first half. Troy trailed 35-29 at the break.

Arkansas State stretched the lead going into the second half, leading by as many as 10 points. At the 9:32 mark, the Trojans trailed 59-49.

Then, the comeback started. A minute and a half later, Troy cut the deficit to 61-58 on a jumper by Deen.

The final eight minutes saw back and forth scoring, resembling the start of the game. Down the stretch, Deen scored eight points and the Trojans went 5-of-10 from the floor.

With a few long shot attempts, the Trojans kept the game close. With 2:38 left, Troy took a 71-70 lead. The Red Wolves couldn’t catch up.

In the game, Troy shot 46.6 percent from the floor and 36 percent from beyond the arc. At the free throw line, the team finished 16-of-22 for 72.7 percent.

Arkansas State shot 50.9 percent from the floor and 35.9 percent beyond the arc. The Red Wolves outrebounded the Trojans 33-29 and held a 10-4 advantage in largest lead total.

While Omier scored 31 against the Trojans, Scott Cross’s team proved to be too tough down the stretch when it mattered most.

Following this win, the Trojans will reset and get prepared for 7-13 Little Rock in Trojan Arena on Saturday. Tip off for that match up is at 4 pm.