with 88-74 victory over TSA

From Special Reports

Troy State (5-4) used a strong second-half surge to claim an 88-74 win over visiting Texas-San Antonio (3-6) in Trojan Arena. The Trojans outscored their guests 57-33 in the second frame.

UTSA, a 1999 NCAA Tournament team picked to win the Southland Conference, had a 41-31 lead at the break. It built the lead to as much as 14 in the second half, leading 47-33 with 18:43 to play.

The Trojans came storming back with a 10-0 run over the next 32 seconds. TSU took the lead on a Detric Golden (Memphis, Tenn.) three-pointer with 8:42 left (64-63). With 2:21 to play and a 74-71 lead, TSU went on a 14-0 run to close out the Roadrunners. A late UTSA three-pointer ended the scoring at 88-74.

Golden led all scorers with 26 points playing all 40 minutes with a sinus infection. Tote Christopher (Athens, Ga.) added 18 points, 14 in the second half, to go with six rebounds. He was 12-of-12 from the charity stripe. Jacova Jenkins (Water Valley, Miss.) had 11 points and 11 boards to aid the cause.

For the game, the Trojans shot 90.6 percent from the line hitting 29-of-32 free throws as opposed to 12-of-20 for the Roadrunners.

UTSA was led by Devin Brown, the Roadrunners’ leading scorer from last year, who saw his first action of the 2000 season scoring 14 points to go with seven rebounds and four assists. Leon Watson chipped in 11 points and eight rebounds.

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Now the Trojans will travel to Hattiesburg, Ms., to face Conference USA foe Southern Miss.

The Golden Eagles come into the game a respectable 7-1 and are fresh off a 65-47 win over Louisiana-Lafayette.

USM have been doing it with defense so far this season averaging only 69.5 points per game, but only allowing 57.6 by their opponents. They are also holding their opposition to only 35 percent from the floor while hitting over 45 percent themselves.

The Golden Eagles are led by David Wall and Mel Cauthen who are the only USM players scoring in double figures. Wall leads the team with 17.9 per game and Cauthen averages 12.1.

TSU will counter with Golden who led the team with a healthy 16 points per game and leads the conference with 6.9 assists per game.

Two other Trojans average in double figures with Eugene Christopher notching 12 a game and Matt Holman dropping in 14.4.

The Trojans will get a short break before starting their conference schedule just befor the new year. They get nine days off then will finish off a three-game road trip as they visit Central Florida and Florida Atlantic inside the TAAC.

Troy State’s next home game will be a Jan. 8 affair with Mercer.