Weber State tops Troy to reach Top of the World title game

Submitted by Barry Piser
Phone: (907) 474-6805
11/18/06

After a back and forth first half, Weber State held the lead from halftime on and took a 66-61 victory over Troy in game five of the BP Top of the World Classic Saturday afternoon at the Carlson Center. The first half saw five ties and four lead changes before a three by Weber’s Juan Pablo Silveira made it 33-30 heading into intermission. Weber extended their lead to as many 14 points and then survived a late Trojan run to advance to the TOWC championship game.

The Wildcats used a strong inside presence from 6-9 center Arturas Valeika and 6-8 forward David Patten in the win. Valeika scored 15 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, as Weber beat Troy on the glass 47-36. Patten scored 12 points on lay-ups and dunks to help Weber to a 28-16 scoring advantage in the paint.

The Trojans had a game-low eight turnovers and only three in the second half but were plagued by a shooting disparity over the two halves. Troy, which hit 40 percent on three-pointers in the first half, made just 1-of-11 in the second and shot an abysmal 34 percent from the floor.

Troy was led by O’Darien Bassett and Sammy Jackson with 15 points each but the duo shot a combined 12-of-33 from the floor. Jerome Odem added 12 points but had only three in the second half.

Weber advances to face the winner of the Utah State/Drake match-up in the Top of the World title tilt Sunday (Nov. 19) at 6:00 p.m. AST. Troy drops to the 3rd/5th place game at 12:30 p.m. AST Sunday at the Carlson Center.

For the latest information on the tournament visit www.AlaskaNanooks.com