romp over Georgia State

By STEVEN G. WATSON

Sports Editor

Some say revenge is a dish best served cold and in a frozen Atlanta, Ga. the Troy State Trojans dished out a 72-58 beating to the Georgia State Panthers in just that fashion.

GSU is the only Trans America Athletic Conference team to down the Trojans (13-6 overall, 9-1 in TAAC play) this year and that came in a 83-77 loss at Trojan Arena back on Jan. 20. Troy State got that loss back by handing the Panthers their first loss since then live on television.

"It was a great team win and a great way to start the second half of the conference season," Maestri said. "I think it was important for our guys to feel like they could play well with this team."

It was a game dominated by the Trojans’ defense down low. They closed down the lanes inside and threw a wrench in the works that the Panthers never seemed to overcome.

"Our defense was established at the beginning of the game," Maestri said. "They could not get into the flow of the game because of our post players circling them and battling them and intercepting passes in the lane. Tonight they were phenomenal.

"We did not play a great game offensively compared to some that we have played, but in terms of defense it was right there with our best," he added. "They got very few second shots and we dominated them on the boards in the first half."

The Trojans outrebounded Georgia State 43 to 32 and held two of their leading scorers under double figures until late in the game. Anton Reese hit for only 11 points and Shernard Long, who is averaging above 20 points a game hit for only 10.

Eugene "Tote" Christopher brought all the offense for Troy State hitting for a career-high 30 points while having a field day on the boards with nine. The senior forward was clutch down the stretch and at the free throw line hitting 13-of-14 from the charity stripe.

Troy State broke out to an early lead in the first half and never trailed afterwards. TSU led by as much as 12 up 22-10, but a furious Georgia State run slashed the lead down to one with just under four to go in the first.

The Trojans didn’t falter, however, putting together their own 11-2 run to finish out the half and go into the locker room up by 11 at 40-29.

In the second half the Panthers were never able to cut the lead to less than nine points. The 58 total points for GSU was its lowest point total since their 58-54 loss to Creighton way back on Dec. 1 and their worst loss since a 89-73 beating at the hands of Bradley the following week.