Trojans hot hand drops Owls to second place in the East Mike Jarvis has been on the defensive bandwagon as of late. And it was easy to see why as Troy (16-11, 11-5) shot lights out in route to an 86-80 victory over the Owls tonight at Trojan Arena. The Trojans were 64.4% from the floor, and out-rebounded FAU 35-24. However Jarvis remains confident about his teams chances in post season play. They (Troy) played well, make no mistake about it, Jarvis said. But, I dont think anybody in this league is going to want to play us in Hot Springs. The loss drops Florida Atlantic (14-13, 10-6) into a second place tie in the Sun Belts Eastern Division with Western Kentucky (17-12, 10-6). FAU can secure a first round bye by winning their remaining games against Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky, but will need Troy to lose one of their remaining contests. Shavar Richardson had a stellar night scoring a career high 31 points, including a 6-12 performance from long range. I hope he has a few of those left next week, said Jarvis. A three point play by Brett Royster gave the Owls the lead 25-22 midway though the first half, but the Trojans would finish on a 6-0 run to lead 41-34 at the break. Troys continued hot hand during the second half pushed the lead to 73-61 with five minutes remaining. The Owls trailed 82-80 with less than 10 seconds to play, but missed their final two shots. Troy hit four straight from the charity stripe during the stretch to secure the win. We were on the road, and almost pulled off a great upset. Now we go home for two home games, said Jarvis. Troy, who had five players score in double figures, was led by Richard Delk’s 21 points. The Owls will play their two remaining regular season games at home. They next face Western Kentucky in a game that will be televised on Fix College Sports on Thursday. Tip-off is 7:00 p.m.
