Early 3s give Troy enough to hold on

Troy 59, Fort Zumwalt S. 56 • Bulldogs finish with 10-1 run but fall short.

TROY, MO. — The Troy boys basketball team came out with a special intensity Tuesday night. And visiting Fort Zumwalt South never quite recovered.

“The game was decided in the first four minutes,” South coach Bill Friedel said of his team’s 59-56 Gateway Athletic Conference South Division loss. “We decided not to guard their outside shooters — that wasn’t part of the game plan, by the way — and they burned us with a bunch of 3-pointers.

“We’ve had a tough time with the really good teams on our schedule this season.”

Added Troy coach Ryan Meyers: “We came out with a lot of energy and it always helps when you can hit some shots early. From there, I really thought we did a nice job of managing the game. South made its run, but even then, I thought we came up with just enough big plays at key times to keep control of the game.”

Troy improved to 15-6 overall and to 4-0 atop the league standings. South is 11-8, 1-2.

Building a quick 17-4 lead, Troy connected on four of six 3-point shots in the opening period. Neil Branham had three of those early bombs while fellow junior Cullen Devins had one. Devins also knocked down three free throws after being fouled while shooting a 3-pointer.

South worked its way back into the game — Troy led 17-11 after a quarter — and managed to cut the margin to two at 22-20 when junior J.R. Alexander scored on a pull-up jumper off the dribble with about 2½ minutes to play in the opening half.

Troy, which led 26-20 at the half and 37-34 after three quarters, stretched the margin to 12 at 56-44 before South finished strong.

Thanks to two 3-pointers from George Cater and another from Alexander in the final minute, the Bulldogs finished the game with a 10-1 run.

Branham, who connected on four 3-pointers in the first half, led all scorers in the game with 22 points while Devins scored 17. For South, Alexander scored 15, Cater 12 and freshman Jordan Swopshire nine. The Bulldogs were without top rebounder and fourth-leading scorer Fred Ford, who’s out with a sore back.