Contributed
(Jan. 29, 2010)

TROY – On the night that senior Mike Vogler became Troy’s Division I assist leader, his Troy Trojans knocked off ULM 75-56 in Sun Belt action.

Vogler totaled seven assists on the night, giving him 411 for his career. The total broke the record of 408 set by former Troy player Greg Davis from 2002-04.

The record came in typical Vogler fashion – on a no-look, behind-the-back pass to forward Antywan Jones for a two-handed slam that brought the Trojan Arena crowd to its feet. Jones scored 10 points on the night.

“What does Peyton Manning mean to the Colts? What does Drew Brees mean to the Saints? What does Brett Favre mean to Minnesota? That’s what Mike Vogler means to Troy basketball,” head coach Don Maestri said. “I think he’s our quarterback. If you become the all-time assist leader in Troy’s history, then you legitimize yourself as a great quarterback, which I think he is.

“I’m happy for him. Mike is one of those old school, playground type players. He likes everybody to get involved in the game. He’s just out there enjoying playing the game of basketball. I think that’s one of the things that makes him such a great player.”

The Trojans were able to escape a second straight off-night from senior Brandon Hazzard. The Atlanta native was once again the focal point of the opposition’s defensive strategy. He scored just three points on 1-of-6 shooting, but he helped five Troy players score double-figures with a career-best five assists.

“I was really pleased that the scoring was spread around as much as it was,” Hazzard said. “I think we had five guys in double-figures and another guy had eight and that was not including Brandon Hazzard. That was as much a key to the victory as anything. When you are the leading scorer in the league like Brandon Hazzard is and you can sacrifice your scoring and shot attempts to give other guys wide open shot attempts – those guys have to make those shot attempts.”

The five helpers tied his previous career high set against the University of Florida earlier this season.

“Levan Patsatsia came in and made two three’s in the first half. [Vernon Taylor] hit two three’s in the first half. Delk hit the three in the corner in the first half. Mike Vogler hit two three’s in the first half. Many of the reasons that all those guys got those open shots was that [ULM] was so keyed on Hazzard, that they were wide open. I was as proud of Hazzard’s play as the six guys that were scoring all the points, because he didn’t let that break him. Winning was more important than his scoring average in the conference. When those kinds of things happen, you have a good chance to win the game.”

Vernon Taylor paced Troy with 14 points off the bench. Mike Vogler and Yamene Coleman each added 13 as the rest of the Troy team responded when given quality looks at the basket.

“It makes me happy [when teams focus on Hazzard],” Taylor said. “Let them go ahead and deny Brandon. You can deny Brandon. We’ve got other scorers too. Everybody else on the team, either in high school or in JUCO, was the star on their team. So they can go ahead and deny Brandon, but they’ll pay for it.”

The Trojans made the Warhawks pay in the form of 46 points from the team’s other four starters. The Trojans also got 26 bench points led by Taylor’s effort and eight from Levan Patsatsia.

Patsatsia’s second 3-pointer of the night capped an 8-0 run that gave Troy an 11-point lead with 4:39 left in the opening half at 34-23. The Trojans took a 10-point advantage into halftime, leading it 41-31.

The Trojans used a 13-0 run to start the second half to climb on top by 20, 51-31. But the Warhawks refused to go away reeling off a 15-5 run of their own, pulling to within 10 with 11:46 to go.

Taylor then scored six straight points over the span of one minute to halt ULM’s run and give his squad a 64-49 advantage.

Vogler and Richard Delk knocked down treys on two straight possessions to give Troy an 18-point lead. Then an emphatic dunk by Taylor off an alley-oop feed from Delk put the Trojans up by 20 once more with 3:07 left. Delk finished the game with 10 points.

Coleman posted his team-leading sixth double-double of the season by adding 10 rebounds – nine in the second half – to go with his 13 points. Six double-doubles ties him with Richard Chaney (2006-07) for the most since Troy joined the Sun Belt.

Troy shot 57.9 percent (11-of-19) from 3-point range and 52.7 percent (29-of-55) from the field.

The Trojans host consecutive Sun Belt home games for the first time this season when South Alabama makes a return trip to Trojan Arena on Saturday. Troy fell to the Jaguars 69-67 earlier this month. Tip-off is set for 7:30 pm.