TROY, Ala. (AP) — Shawn Jones scored 12 points and Raymond Cintron added 11, both off the bench, as Middle Tennessee defeated Troy 63-53 on Thursday night for the Blue Raiders’ sixth straight win.
Jones scored all of his points in the first half as Middle Tennessee (14-2, 3-0 Sun Belt Conference) led by as many as 10 and 36-27 at the break.
The Trojans (5-9, 0-3) rallied to get to 46-42 with 11:28 remaining, then JT Sutton’s dunk sparked a 6-0 Blue Raiders run. Ahead 52-46, Cintron hit back-to-back 3-pointers to push the lead into double figures for good.
LaRon Dendy, who was averaging a team-high 14.3 points per game for Middle Tennessee, was held to seven points on 2-of-10 shooting. He grabbed nine rebounds as the Blue Raiders had a 45-33 advantage on the boards.
R.J. Scott led Troy with 13 points, Daronte Clark added 12 and Tim Owens had six blocks.
