Updates from Trojan Arena - FINAL TROY 63, SOUTH ALABAMA 58

February 28, 2009

By Drew Champlin

By now, I guess you’ve heard of Miles Hoyle hitting for the cycle in Troy’s 19-3 baseball win over Memphis. Earlier in the gym, Troy’s women won over South Alabama, making four straight and 7 of 9. The women will be seeded no lower than 5th, most likely 4th and possibly 3rd (with a bye). It depends on a couple of games tomorrow.

With 5:53 left, Troy’s men are holding a 53-50 lead over South Alabama. Trojans haven’t shot the ball well, but have done the little things well so far. No matter what, with Western Kentucky’s win over Middle Tennessee, the Trojans will be the No. 3 seed (with the bye) in Hot Springs. Now, it’s 55-50 with 5:25 left and USA shooting free throws. Catch you later.

FINAL THOUGHTS - Troy wins 63-58 in front of a season-high 3017 fans. Trojans hit just 2 threes but still won against a good team. That never happens. Until this year.

Troy’s off till next Sunday. The Trojans play the No.6-No.11 winner and we don’t know who that will be until tomorrow.

Saturday links

By Drew Champlin

First off, the regular season finale. Since I was off this week, Ken Rogers filled in for me and wrote this fantastic piece on senior guard Josh Williams.

I remember writing a story in the spring of 2005, talking to Williams over the phone when he was at Malone High School after he had signed. Hard to believe his career is winding down, but he’s the perfect example of what a winning basketball team needs to have beyond the statistical superstars.

Troy’s baseball team lost its home opener to Memphis. It was 7-0 with two outs in the ninth before Brett Henry slammed a 3-run homer and Miles Hoyle hit a pinch-hit, two-run double, but Hoyle was caught between third and home after a tough bounce and tagged out to end the game.

Troy and Memphis play today at 1 p.m. I’m not sure if I’ll make it or not - depends on the weather and if I want to drive through it that early in the day, but it’s still early in the year.

Troy women’s basketball tiebreaker situation

February 27, 2009

By Drew Champlin

From media relations ace Travis Jarome, who has also spent the better part of the day in cahoots with the Sun Belt office on the difficult tiebreaker situations. Troy hosts South Alabama at 5:15 p.m. Saturday.

Troy still has a shot at third place in women’s basketball.

Here are the standings right now;
MTSU: 16-1
UALR: 14-2
WKU: 10-7
USA: 10-7
Denver: 9-8
Troy: 9-8
Arkansas State: 9-8
Florida Atlantic: 8-9
New Orleans: 8-10

Troy must defeat South Alabama; Middle Tennessee must defeat WKU; North Texas must defeat Denver (at Denver); ULM must defeat Arkansas State (at ULM); Florida Atlantic must defeat FIU.

If that happens, here are the standings:
MTSU: 17-1
UALR: 15-2
Troy: 10-8
WKU: 10-8
South Alabama: 10-8
Denver: 9-9
Florida Atlantic: 9-9
Arkansas State: 9-9

According to John McElwain (at the Sun Belt office), it will come down to FAU and that is how we would win the tiebreaker.

Best Troy can finish is third, worst Troy could finish is seventh.

Here are the logistics as to why FAU needs to finish ahead of Arkansas State.
Say they do:

Denver beat all three teams, so void the out of the equation

FAU split with South Alabama, was swept by WKU and Troy - knocking South Alabama out of the tie.

Then it goes to Arkansas State; Troy won and WKU lost; meaning Troy moves to third.

So what it means is that Troy will have a bye straight to Hot Springs or host a first-round game next Wednesday.

Men’s basketball tiebreakers

By Drew Champlin

On the men’s side, this was transmitted to me via media relations ace Taylor Bryan, who has spent the better part of the day talking with people at the Sun Belt office about seeding for the Sun Belt Men’s Tournament.

The teams you need to be aware of: EAST - Western Kentucky (14-3, at MTSU), Troy (13-4, home vs. South Alabama) WEST - UALR (14-3, home vs. ULL)

If there is a three-way tie, Troy can’t finish first. WKU has a 3-1 record vs. Troy and UALR and Troy is 2-1, with UALR 0-3. Gives the edge to WKU.

The division winners will be seeded 1 and 2. No ifs, ands or buts about it.

If WKU loses, Troy wins and UALR wins, then UALR is the league champ outright and Troy is tied with WKU at 14-4 at the top of the East. At that point, with a 1-1 record against each other, it goes down the line all the way to Denver, where Troy is 1-0 against and WKU is 0-1. Troy would win that tiebreaker and be the No. 2 seed in the tournament.

At least that’s how we understand it. Basically, Troy’s going to be the 2 or 3 seed in the Sun Belt Tournament. I’d rate the odds best at the 3 seed.

If Troy loses, the Trojans are automatically the 3 seed.

There could be a logjam with 4-5-6-7. If Denver beats North Texas, WKU beats MTSU and Troy beats South Alabama, then Denver, MTSU, South Alabama and North Texas are tied at 10-8. Not sure how it would be sorted out there, but all four will host first-round games as will UL-Lafayette.

But, Saturday you’ve got some Troy players going up for individual awards. I think it’s a lock that Don Maestri is Coach of the Year. Brandon Hazzard’s performances in league play could have him at Player of the Year, where he’s averaging almost 20 ppg for a good team. Richard Delk should have the upper hand for Newcomer of the Year. Hazzard, Delk and Michael Vogler are playing for spots on the first, second and third team.

Vogler’s scoring stats aren’t as good as some he’s battling for, but he leads the league in assists and might, just might, be the top point guard in the league depending on who you’re asking.

Haugabook lands in af2 league

By Drew Champlin

Former Troy quarterback Omar Haugabook was signed by the Florida Firecats of the af2 (Arena Football 2) league. Read about it HERE.

Camp begins on Saturday and it looks like he’s battling with three other QBs for roster spots. I have no idea how many QBs teams like this carry on a regular season roster. I would guess 2, maybe 3.

Former Trojan wideout Toris Rutledge, who finished in 2006, is also on the roster.