Troy University Athletics
Troy University
11-7,4-3Sun Belt
South Alabama
14-5,6-1Sun Belt
Troy’s Comeback Effort Falls Short at South Alabama
1/18/2025 6:58:00 PM | Basketball (M)
MOBILE, Ala. – A ferocious second-half comeback effort came up just short on Saturday afternoon, as the Troy men's basketball team erased a 20-point deficit but couldn't close out South Alabama, falling 64-63 in the Mitchell Center.
Troy (11-7, 4-3 SBC) had started slow on offense in the first half, and South Alabama (14-5, 6-1 SBC) was on fire shooting the ball – especially from distance – to take a 20-point lead into the halftime break. The Trojans came out in the second half on fire and outscored the Jaguars 41-22 in the second frame and led by one with 1.9 seconds left, but a late foul gave South Alabama two free throws to take the lead. A half-court heave by Troy was long as time expired.
South Alabama made seven threes in the first half, and shot 46.9 percent from the field to take a 42-22 lead into the locker room. The Trojans turned it over 12 times and was 6-24 from the field en route to its worst half of the season.
Troy came out of the break on a quick 7-0 run in less than 90 seconds to cut the deficit to 13 and force a South Alabama timeout. The Trojans continued to roll, and cut the Jaguar leads to 10 at the under-12 minute media timeout. South Alabama pushed its advantage back up to 13 with 6:32 to go in the game, and with things looking like it was slipping away from the Trojans, Marcus Rigsby Jr. and Tayton Conerway came alive from behind the 3-point line.
Rigsby Jr., buried a pair of 3-pointers in less than 60 seasons to bring Troy within seven, and Conerway followed with a deep left-wing three to make it 60-56 with 3:28 left in the game.
With 1:23 remaining in regulation and the Trojans down four, Conerway hit another shot from beyond the arch to get Troy within one. Each team went scoreless on their next few possessions, and with 11 seconds left Jackson Fields got fouled while grabbing a rebound. Troy was in the bonus, and Fields buried both of his free-throw attempts to give Troy a 63-62 lead.
With two seconds left, South Alabama's Barry Dunning Jr got fouled on a lob attempt. He buried both his free throws to clinch the win for the Jaguars.
Conerway was remarkable once again for Troy, scoring a game-high 23 points on 8-15 shooting, including 4-7 from deep. He scored 15 points in the second half. He finished the night with five rebounds, four assists and four steals.
It was a tale of two halves for Troy, who turned it over just two times in the second half, while shooting 42.4 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from the field. On defense, Troy forced 14 second-half turnovers, 12 of which came on steals, while limiting its opponent to a 32 percent shooting clip.
Dunning Jr had a team-high 14 points for South Alabama. The Jaguars finished the night shooting 40.4 percent from the field.
Quotable – head coach Scott Cross
"It was a tale of two halves. First half, we had no energy. We didn't turn them over. We couldn't hang onto the ball. We couldn't catch the ball. We weren't passing it good. But out guys played extremely hard, and to get back into that game is a testament to our guys. I'm proud of them for the way they fought."
Up Next
Troy returns home on Thursday evening as it welcomes Southern Miss to Trojan Arena. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and the Troy Sports Media Network.
Game 18 Notables
• Tayton Conerway had a game-high 23 points. He has scored in double-figures in every game this season. He also led Troy in assists (4) and steals (4).
• Troy outscored South Alabama 41-22 in the second half after getting outscored 42-22 in the first half.
• Thomas Dowd, Jackson Fields and Victor Valdes all had six rebounds to lead Troy.
• The Trojans turned it over just two times in the second half after turning it over 12 times in the first 20 minutes.
• Troy is now 14-31 all-time against South Alabama.
