Basketball season has arrived in Troy, as Troy State opened its 2000-2001 campaign with an exhibition doubleheader, which saw the defending TAAC regular-season champions pick up where they left off, as the men’s team won, 84-74. The Lady Trojans lost their exhibition game, 82-70.

In the men’s game, the Trojans fell behind early. With the game tied at 19, Atomeromu Se, went on a 7-0 run to take a 26-19 lead. The Trojans got as close as 39-35 after two Robert Rushing free throws with just over three minutes left in the half. From there, Atomeromu Se went on a 7-3 run to end the half with a 46-38 lead.

The Trojans came out firing in the second half. After falling behind 51-40, the Trojans went on a 9-0 run to cut the lead to two. Atomeromu Se kept that narrow lead until just under 10 minutes left, when Herbert Evans made a lay-up to give Troy State a 66-64 lead.

Evans’ lay-up sparked an 11-2 run, that gave the Trojans an 11 point lead, 77-66. The Trojans were able to make 4-of-6 free throws down the stretch, to claim a 84-74 win. Leading the Trojans in scoring was Jacova Jenkins with 21. Rushing added 20 points, with Lemayn Wilson getting a double-double, with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Matt Holman added 12 points, hitting 4-of-6 from the three-point line.

"We need to work to get good free throw shooting to win close games," said Troy State head coach Don Maestri, who enters his 19th season in charge of the Trojans. "We got great guard play from Robert, Matt (Holman) and Herbert. We were able to hit some key free throws down the stretch that allowed us to win."

In the women’s game earlier in the evening, neither team could take control early. The Norrkoping Flamingos, the Swedish National Champions, had their largest lead of the half, eight, with the score 32-24 with just under five minutes left in the half. The Lady Trojans would go on an 11-2 run to take a 35-34 lead. The Flamingos though would take the lead into the locker room at the half, leading 38-37.

The Lady Trojans came out firing, opening the second half with a 7-2 run, sparked by a Jennifer McInnes three-pointer, to take a 44-40 lead. The Flamingos would come back to tie game at 52, and would go on a 14-4 run from there to take a 66-58 lead with just over seven minutes left.

But the Lady Trojan would not go away. Latoya Gay scored six in a row to lead an 8-0 Troy State run to tie the game at 66. That was as close as the Lady Trojans would get, as Norrkoping went on a 10-0 run to take a 76-66 lead with 1:54 left in the game. The Flamingos would hold off the Lady Trojans to take the game, 82-70.

Leading the Lady Trojans off the bench was Latoya Gay. Gay had a team-high 14 points and eight rebounds. Jennifer McInnes added 13 points, going 6-for-8 from the field. Tomekia Golatte added 11 points off the bench with six rebounds, all on the offensive end.

This is the only exhibition date on the schedule for the men’s team. They open the season on Nov. 20 in Tuscaloosa, as they face Alabama. The women’s team is in action again Monday at Trojan Arena. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.