Troy men fall short to ULM in overtime

Published 12:26 am Saturday, January 31, 2015

The Troy men’s basketball team was handed its fourth-straight loss after surrendering a late-game lead, falling to conference foe ULM in overtime, 58-55 Thursday night at Trojan Arena.

Going into overtime with the game tied at 50, the Warhawks opened up the extra period on a 6-0 run, burying the Trojans, who held a comfortable 10-point lead going into the second half.

Four Trojans scored in double figures in the losing effort. Musa Abdul-Aleem scored a game-high 17 points, Kevin Thomas earned his 11th career double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds and Wesley Person and John Walton chipped in with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

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ULM (13-8, 7-3) opened the game strong on a 6-0 run, but Troy responded with a 14-0 run, taking a 14-6 lead early in the first half. After holding the Warhawks scoreless for eight-plus minutes in the first half, Troy (7-12, 2-8) went into halftime up 31-21.

In the second half, ULM made their own go at the lead, orchestrating a 7-0 run before tying the game up at 44 a piece.

In the final minutes, each team traded baskets and leads. Person sunk a basket with 3:17 left in the game to put Troy up 50-47, but ULM’s Mack Foster matched Person, hitting a 3-pointer to tie the game at 50 and forcing overtime.

Thursday night marked the fifth-straight game that Troy led going into halftime.

Troy shot 35.7 percent from the floor, including 7-of-19 from long range in the game, but was 0-of-2 in overtime. Poor free throw shooting by Troy down the stretch came back to bite them as they shot 8-of-16 on the night.

Majok Deng and Mack Foster both led ULM in scoring with 15 points, and Tylor Ongwae led the Warhawks on the glass with nine rebounds, including six on the offensive glass. ULM’s bench outscored Troy 18-1 in the game.