On Saturday Feb 1, the Troy Trojans snapped the Georgia State Panthers 15 home game winning streak at the Georgia State University Sports Arena in Downtown Atlanta. The back and forth shootout ended 84-78 in favor of the Trojans, as they sank 14 three balls in the game.
“They played better basketball than us. They have a distinct style of play because they have a small team and they shoot a lot of threes…they did what they do and we didn’t stop them from doing it.” Said Head Coach Rob Lanier.
The 3-point shot writes the story for this contest. Georgia State was not prepared to stop Troy’s shooting from behind the arch. The Panthers, who came into the game No. 5 in the country in allowing opponents to only shoot 27.9% from 3-point range, permitted the Trojans to shoot a stunning 42.4% from the three in this match up.
The Panthers deep shot did not come close in comparison. The team, who has been averaging 38.2% from the 3-point line, couldn’t get them to fall and ended the game shooting 26.5% from that range. The Panthers were able to lead in points in the paint, second chance points, fast break points, and points off the bench. However, the 3-point scoring was the difference maker in the game.
“We made 9 threes in the game, 9 threes is good. We scored 78 and had 49 points at half time. We scored enough points to win a basketball game. You score 78 points and lose on your home court, then the other team scored entirely too many points in the game.” Lanier said.
The Panthers found themselves with a 7-point lead with five minutes left in the second half. But they couldn’t hang on to it. The Trojans came with a speed and accuracy and executed a 9-5 run that the Panthers couldn’t recover from.
“I think that’s part of our problem that we think we can fix things with our offense instead of digging in and doing it on the defensive end.” Lanier said.
The Panthers fall to 15-8 overall and 8-4 in conference play. They will head on the road to Louisiana to face the Ragin’ Cajuns on Feb 6. Tip off is set for 8 pm