Men’s basketball grabs second SBC Western Division title

The men’s basketball team clinched its second Sun Belt Conference West Division title in the last three seasons with a 58-50 victory over the Troy Trojans this Saturday.

“It wasn’t the prettiest game, but anytime you tip off, the goal is to win it and we were able to find a way to do that,” head coach John Brady said.

The Red Wolves found themselves relying heavily on their defense the duration of the game limiting Troy to just 29.2 percent shooting from the floor.

“Defensively we were solid and took care of the ball. We continued to guard the whole game. We wound up shooting 40 percent and they ended up with 29,” Brady added. “It was important for us to win the field goal stat. That’s the difference in the game.”

Senior forward Brandon Peterson’s 15 points, nine rebounds, and four blocked shots in just 34 minutes of action paced the game for the team. Following his lead, senior guard Trey Finn also grabbed double-digit points with 13. Freshman guard Cameron Golden added nine and sophomore Rakeem Dickerson put in six points.

“I don’t think we shot the ball very well. There were opportunities we could’ve taken advantage of, whether it was getting it to the post or making an extra pass,” Finn said.

The Trojans also struggled offensively the first half, combining for 39 points with A-State leading 25-14.

“There are two or three baskets that could’ve made a difference in that game that we didn’t make but to our player’s credit, they didn’t drop their head, they kept defending and rebounding,” Brady said.

ASU maintained a double figure lead the first 16 minutes until Troy came back with seven points and 1:34 on the clock. The Red Wolves cushioned the score to ten points with a score of 55-45 with 26 seconds remaining.

The Trojans jumped up four points but were unable to catch the Red Wolves as Cameron Golden put the icing on the cake with a slam-dunk with two seconds to go.

“First thing I did when I walked into the locker room was congratulate our team for what they’ve accomplished to this point, but the message is, it’s not over,” Brady continued. “I don’t want to go into the conference tournament limping, I want to go in there sprinting.”

For seniors Trey Finn, Brandon Peterson and Marcus Hooten, it was their last home game appearance.

“We’ve had some ups and downs. I’m just glad everybody stuck with us to get to where we are now,” Peterson said.

He also agreed that last year’s downfall made this year’s success that much sweeter.

“We really appreciate them for coming out. I enjoyed it and I’m glad we were able to get the win,” Finn added.

The Red Wolves will go on to play the North Texas Mean Green this Thursday
at 7 p.m. in Denton, Texas.