Troy escapes with a 65-63 win over Hawaii

Nov 26, 2016, 03:31 am

HONOLULU -- Jordon Varnado and Wesley Person each scored 14 points and Troy held on for a 65-63 victory over Hawaii on Friday night.

Hawaii forward Gibson Johnson had a steal and assisted on Noah Allen's fast-break layup to tie it at 60-all. But Alex Hicks hit two free throws to give Troy a 62-60 lead and after Hawaii missed a 3, DeVon Walker was fouled in the backcourt and hit two free throws to extend the lead to 64-60.

Johnson was fouled under the basket on an inbound pass with 1:06 left. He missed the second of two free throws, but it went out of bounds off of Troy and his jumper made it 64-63. Kevin Baker made 1 of 2 at the stripe with 4 seconds left and Allen's driving attempt was off the mark.

Hicks finished with nine points and six rebounds for Troy (3-3), which scored the first 16 points of the game.

Jack Purchase led Hawaii (3-3) with a career-high 21 points after making 6 of 11 3-pointers.