Men’s Basketball Wins Season Opener, 92-47

Monday, November 6

Troy, Ala.

11 a.m.

Troy University

1-0,0-0Sun Belt

Fort Lauderdale

0-1

Fort Lauderdale

Troy

Men’s Basketball Wins Season Opener, 92-47

11/6/2023 3:05:00 PM | Basketball (M)

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TROY, Ala. — Riding a smothering defense and a fast offense, the Troy men's basketball team opened its 2023-24 season with a 92-47 win over Fort Lauderdale at Trojan Arena on Monday afternoon.

For the fourth straight season, the Trojans (1-0) open their season in the win column.

Even with the morning tip-off, the Troy defense came to play and held the Eagles offense to just 31.4 percent from the field and 9.1 percent from three-point range. Paired with the strong defense, the Trojans presented a well-balanced offense that saw five players score in double figures.

In his Troy debut, Tayton Conerway led the march for the Trojan offense with 15 points on 4-8 shooting. Also joining Conerway in double figures were Myles Rigsby, Thomas Dowd, Christyon Eugene — all with 11 — and Randarius Jones with 10.

Fort Lauderdale's Benez Woodard and Chris Berry each had 14 points to lead the Eagles — who jumped out to a 6-5 lead early before the Trojans took over.

Physical From the Start
The Trojans won the physicality game all day long, as they completely controlled the paint on both ends, out-rebounding the Eagles 45-29. Troy also out-scored Fort Lauderdale 52-18 in the paint.

In his first collegiate game, Dowd nearly racked up a double-double pulling down nine rebounds to complement his 11 points. Jones was second on the team in rebounds with six.

The Trojans also had four players record a block on Monday.

Depth on Full Display
The Trojans brought in 11 newcomers this season to help solidify their depth, and that depth was obvious on Monday. The Troy bench scored 50 points, and three of the leading scorers — Conerway, Dowd and Jones — each came off the bench.

Troy made its first big wave of substitutions at the under-16:00 media timeout in the first half and immediately went on a 10-0 run to bust the game open.

Opening Statement from Scott Cross
Head coach Scott Cross gave thoughts on his team's performance to open the season:

"Overall, I am pleased. We saw the things we wanted to see. We wanted to have a big differential on the rebounding, we did that. We wanted to hold them under 40 percent shooting, we did that. We had more assists than turnovers. So, the majority of the boxes, I think we checked. A lot of positives. I think we were a little tight in the beginning, but we did loosen up in the second half."

Season Opening Notes
• This is the first time since Jan. 12, 2023, that Troy has held an opponent to under 20 percent from three-point range. Fort Lauderdale was 1-11 from beyond the arc.
• Monday marked the first time since Nov. 11, 2023 (at Montana) that Troy had five double-digit scorers.
• Troy held Fort Lauderdale to 18 points in the first half, marking the first time since Dec. 1, 2021 (vs. Rust College) that an opponent has failed to score 20 points in the first 20 minutes.
• For the first time since Nov. 10, 2022 (vs. MUW), Troy held an opponent to 50 points or less.
• Troy's 45-point win is its highest win margin since they defeated SUNO by 57 on Nov. 23, 2022.
• The attendance for Monday's game was 3,321 – the eighth most attended game at Trojan Arena.

Hitting the Road
Troy now embarks on one of its longest road trips of the season, as they head to Athens, Ohio, to take on Ohio on Wednesday at 6 p.m. CT. The Trojans then head to Corvallis, Ore., to take on Oregon State on Friday at 6 p.m. CT.