Photo by: Krishnan Collins | Sports Editor: Caleb Fields scored 17 points in A-State’s win over Troy.

Behind a stellar down-the-stretch performance from Caleb Fields and Marquis Eaton, A-State took down Troy 76-68 in a thrilling overtime contest.

With the win, the Red Wolves improved to 4-3 in the Sun Belt Conference and 12-6 overall. Eaton led the Red Wolves with 24 points while Fields chipped in 17.

Fields picked up an injury midway through the second half and the knock was so bad the freshman had to be carried off the court. However, Fields came back and was instantly put into the game by head coach Mike Balado.

“It just shows (coach Balado) has confidence in me and knows I’m going to go out there and give it my all,” Fields said. “I’m going to leave it all out there on the floor regardless if I’m hurt or not. I’m just glad he has that confidence in me.”

Fields’ first action back from injury was a major 3-point basket to keep A-State within touching distance. The freshman gingerly walked into the post game press conference.

“I couldn’t get up,” Fields said. “But I just thought I’m going to go out there and give it my all. Regardless if I couldn’t play I was going to try to play. I was just going to do whatever I could for the team to help us win.”

Fields had help from his teammate Eaton. Not only did Eaton lead the team in scoring, he led the team in energy.

“I’ve just been calming down and getting to spots where I’m most comfortable and just taking what they give me,” Eaton said. “We start out slow too much. There’s gotta be somebody that just picks us up. I’m not really the energy guy, so if I do it, it should carry over to everybody.”

While Eaton and Fields stood out on the stat sheet, Malik Brevard did the dirty work. Brevard registered seven steals and 18 deflections. Both Balado and Eaton commented on the work of Brevard and how his work was very important, even if it did not stand out on the stat sheet.

“Malik Brevard was the unsung hero of the game,” Balado said. “He was unbelievable. He was all over the court. He’s really the only guy that pursues rebounds out of his area.”

Overtime

A-State started the overtime period with momentum and never looked back. Fields opened overtime with a layup and then converted the and-one opportunity to put the Red Wolves ahead 64-61.

Then, Eaton struck with a three as A-State jumped out to a 67-61 lead.

Troy did not score in the overtime period until only 48 seconds remained on the clock. The Red Wolves closed the game out comfortably.

Second Half

Troy started the second half on fire and jumped out to a 10-point, 48-38 lead over the Red Wolves. To make things seemingly worse for A-State, Fields was carried off the court halfway through the second period in visible pain.

However, A-State showed resiliency and battled back in a truly thrilling second half.

A Melo Eggleston dunk brought the First National Bank Arena to its feet as the Red Wolves were battling back behind 54-47. However, Troy’s leading scorer on the night, Darian Adams, drained a shot from beyond-the-arc to put Troy ahead 10 points once again.

Then, Fields and Eaton took over the game. In his first action back on the court from injury, Fields netted a 3-pointer to keep the home team in the contest behind 57-52. All the momentum swung towards A-State.

Tied 61-61, the Red Wolves had a chance at the last shot as Eaton got the ball with 14 seconds left but missed his jumper before the contest went into overtime.

First Half

Both teams started the game slowly. Four minutes in, the scoreline read 4-4 as the Trojans only made two of their opening eight shots and the Red Wolves shot 33% from the field before the first media timeout.

With around 10 minutes left in the half the Red Wolves found some momentum after a nice assist from Fields that found Brevard under the basket to tie the game at 10-10. From there, A-State continued its run jumping out to a 19-10 lead.

It looked like the Red Wolves were going to run away with the contest after a strong defensive stand forced the Trojans into a shot clock violation with 4:11 left in the half. Jerry Johnson converted a layup on the other end to give the home team a 27-17 lead.

However, A-State were unable to score any points in the final 2:56 of the half and Troy closed the first period on a 7-0 run. The teams hit the halftime locker rooms with A-State leading 28-26.

Looking Ahead

A-State travels to Appalachian State Jan. 16 for another SBC matchup.

Categories: Sports