TROY – In the classic movie of 1969, “The Godfather”, the late great actor Marlon Brando, portraying Don Corleone, uttered that “Revenge is a dish that tastes best when served cold”. That certainly was the case in more ways than one in a Miami Valley League contest Friday night as the Troy Trojans downed the Green Wave of Greenville by a 75-49 count.
Back in early December, the Wave parlayed a hot-shooting night into a 67-64 victory over the Trojans. Troy turned the tables last night as they shot 60% from the floor, connecting on 44% from beyond the arc, as they blew open what was a close contest through the first 13 minutes. Not only was revenge sweet, but it was literally served cold as the Troy gymnasium cooled considerably as someone evidently turned down the heat in the second half.
The Wave trailed 13-8 at the end of the first quarter and 20-15 with a little over three minutes left in the first half when the floodgates opened as the Trojans scorched the nets, hitting their last five shots of the quarter to take a 34-20 lead into the locker room at intermission.
The hot streak continued after the break as the Scarlet and Gray made their first five shots, including three from long range, to take a commanding 47-24 advantage with 4:40 remaining in the third period. The Wave had no answer as Troy went 17 of 27 in the final 16 minutes and basically sliced through the Greenville defense with relative ease.
Unofficially, Greenville shot 18 of 46 from the field for 39%, making only 4 of 15 threes, while Troy, as mentioned, was 31 of 52 and 8 of 18 from three-point land.
The battle of the boards was even as both teams snared 21 caroms, but the Wave committed 16 turnovers to the Trojans seveen. Troy was 5 of 9 from the foul line with the Wave converting 9 of 11.
Troy was paced by the 18 points of 6’5” senior Kardel Winfield, while Malakyi Hall added 13 and Brady O’Leary contributed 10. On the Wave side of the scorebook, senior Johnny Barr, playing with a left wrist injured in practice, still managed to score 15 points by doing damage in the lane, while junior Michael McMahon, dealing with a sore ankle sustained in the previous game with Butler, had 13.
Troy sees their record advance to 7-4 in league play, 8-5 overall, while Greenville falls to 1-10 in the MVL and 2-11 for the year. Troy next travels to Minster for a Sunday afternoon contest as part of the Martin Luther King weekend, before going to the Student Activity Center at Butler for a league matchup on Tuesday. The Green Wave will try to halt a five-game losing streak by hosting the Xenia Buccaneers Tuesday night.
As Don Corleone famously said, the Trojans most certainly enjoyed the post-game meal last night.
BOX SCORE:
TROY 75, GREENVILLE 49
TROY – K. Winfield 18, M. Hall 13, B. O’Leary 10, A. Luis 9, T. Schramm 8, E. Atkins 7, M. Gifford 6, J. Murphy 3, E. Owens 1 – TOTALS 23 5-9 8 75
GREENVILLE – J. Barr 15, M. McMahon 13, L. Thorp 7, D. Conway 5, I. Kerg 4, E. Flatter 3, G. Denham 2 – TOTALS 14 9-11 4 49
3-POINTERS
Troy 8 (A. Luis 3, B. O’Leary 2, E. Atkins 1, M. Hall 1, J. Murphy 1)
Greenville 4 (M. McMahon 3, E. Flatter 1)
SCORE by QUARTERS
13-21-21-20 75 Troy
08-12-13-16 49 Greenville
