73-59 victory at Campbell

By STEVEN G. WATSON

Sports Editor

Two days after dropping their first conference game of the season, the Troy State Trojans bounced right back on the road with a 73-59 thrashing of Campbell Saturday.

The Trojans (11-6 overall, 7-1 in TAAC play) left no doubts why they are the Trans America Athletic Conference leaders as four Troy State players scored in double figures, led by Matt Holman with 24. Holman, who came off a poor three-point showing in the Trojans 83-77 loss to Georgia State Thursday, made amends hitting 9-of-13 field goals including 3-of-6 from beyond the arc.

Troy State blew up in the first half taking advantage of a 19-2 run at the halfway point never looking back. TSU led by as much as 25 points in the game and went into the locker room with a comfortable 41-23 lead at the break.

After the first-half onslaught by the Trojans, the Camels (6-11, 4-4) were never able to cut the lead under double figures.

"We played really excellent team basketball this afternoon and really did an excellent job on the defensive end," TSU head coach Don Maestri said after the game. "Today we played as good defensively as we’ve played all year. When you’re on the road that’s one of the things that you have to do. After a disappointing loss to Georgia State it was good to see the guys come back and have this kind of performance on the road against a good Campbell ball club."

The loss to Georgia State Thursday marked the end of a five-game winning streak for the Trojans and put an end to any thoughts they might go undefeated through a tough TAAC schedule.

Troy State almost pulled off the miracle comeback over the Panthers fighting from 20 points down to cut it to only two, but GSU was to strong down the stretch hitting its free throws and doing the little things they needed to win.

In the GSU game, Troy State point guard Detric Golden paced the Trojans in their comeback hitting for a game-high and season-high 28 points while Eugene Christopher had 22.

Golden and Christopher took a backseat against Campbell Saturday hitting for 10 and 11 respectively while Holman’s 24 and Robert Rushing’s 17 lead the way. Rushing hit 5-of-9 from 3-point range as the Trojans had another good day from long range and continue to lead the league in treys.

Adam Fellers led the Camels with 22 points and Jamie Simmons notched 12.

Now the Trojans get Sunday off then prepare to face Stetson on Monday. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Trojan Arena.