Red Wolves Beat Troy on the Road

TROY, Ala. – Rakeem Dickerson and Ed Townsel both scored a game-high 19 points to lead four players in double figures as the Arkansas State University Red Wolves beat Troy on the road 83-73 Saturday night in a Sun Belt Conference (SBC) men’s basketball matchup at TU’s Trojan Arena in Troy, Ala.

The two backcourt players led the Red Wolves, who improve to 12-8 overall and up their conference mark to 5-4 on the season.   Dickerson, a junior guard, reached a career high with his 19 points while Townsel, a senior guard, finished one point shy of matching his season best.  Sophomore guard Cameron Goldenpoured in 18 points off the bench to spark the Red Wolves offensively, who also received 10 points from senior guard Melvin Johnson III.   Troy suffers its fifth loss in a row as the Trojans drop to 7-14 overall and are 2-7 in the conference.

“It was important for us to get this one,” said A-State head coach John Brady.  “We played really well tonight and I was proud of the way our guys bounced back after a disappointing loss Thursday night (at ULM).  We played with a lot of energy and guarded them well.”

A-State would hold a 44-36 advantage at halftime as the Red Wolves led the final 6:37 of the opening half.  A three-pointer by Rakeem Dickerson snapped a 26-all tie as A-State proceeded to take a 36-28 lead with 4:16 to go after Ed Townsel knocked down a three ball.  Townsel would strike again on a jumper at the 2:11 juncture as the Red Wolves would claim their largest lead of the half at 10 points (42-32).  Townsel’s 10 points paced A-State at the break.

The Red Wolves maintained their lead the entire way throughout the final 20 minutes, building up a 14-point margin at 71-57 on Melvin Johnson III’s three-point field goal at 6:40.  Troy managed to get within seven points at 77-70 with 1:26 remaining but would get no closer as A-State went on a 7-2 run to go up 83-70 with 27 seconds to be played.

Defensively, Melvin Johnson III registered eight rebounds and Ed Townsel pulled down six boards while Troy’s Antoine Myers grabbed a game-high 11 caroms.

Troy also had four players in the double-figure scoring column, led by Tevin Calhoun and Kevin Thomas with 16 points apiece.

A-State finished the night shooting 43.6 percent (24-55) from the floor and 82.8 percent (24-29) at the free throw line.  Troy made 46.6 percent (27-58) of its shots from the field and was at 57.1 percent (12-21) in free throw efficiency.

The Red Wolves will entertain the Lyon College Scots this Tuesday, Feb. 4, at the Convocation Center in Jonesboro, Ark.  Tipoff for A-State’s final 2013-14 non-conference contest is slated for 7:05 p.m. (CT) and tickets can be purchased through the A-State Central Box Office at 870-972-2781 or 1-888-ASU-FANS.  Tickets are also available for online purchase by going to www.astate.edu/tickets.  Fans can also listen live on the EAB Red Wolves Sports Radio Network per flagship station KFIN 107.9 FM with Matt Stolz calling the action.