Troy Pulls Away in Second Half to Defeat Georgia Southern

Thursday, January 30

Troy, Ala.

6 p.m.

Troy University

14-7,7-3Sun Belt

Georgia Southern

11-11,4-6Sun Belt

Ga. Southern

Troy

Troy Pulls Away in Second Half to Defeat Georgia Southern

1/30/2025 11:17:00 PM | Basketball (M)

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TROY, Ala. – After a tight first half, the Troy men's basketball team caught fire late to pull away from Georgia Southern en route to an 81-74 win on Thursday night in Trojan Arena.

Troy (14-7, 7-3 SBC) is now in sole possession of second place in the Sun Belt standings after a number of other SBC results broke in the Trojans favor. Georgia Southern (11-11, 4-6 SBC) struggled to slow down a Troy offense that shot 50 percent from the field, including 52.4 percent in the second half.

The Trojans started slow, and the Eagles quickly jumped ahead 22-13 with 10:55 remaining before the break. Troy was struggling to get anything going, while Georgia Southern was shooting the lights out. Troy opened 1-14 from 3-point range.

Down 27-17 with 6:45 left in the first half, Troy started to find its rhythm on both ends of the court and went on a 11-2 run to get things within one possession. Cooper Campbell made a nifty layup in the pain as time was expiring in the first half to give Troy a 41-40 lead going into the locker room.

Despite the Trojans starting slow on offense, they still shot 48.4 percent from the field. Theo Seng led Troy's early comeback by burying a trio of threes to finish the half with 11 points on 4-5 shooting. The Eagles shot 56.5 percent in the half but committed nine turnovers which led to more opportunities for Troy to get on the board.

The Trojans committed just three first-half turnovers were 7-9 from the free-throw line.

The two teams came out in the second half by trading buckets and the Troy lead never got bigger than five until Myles Rigsby buried a pair of free throws with 1:21 left to push the Trojan advantage to 75-68.

Troy's offense was much crisper in the second half, but the difference in the game was the defense. The Trojans held Georgia Southern to 35 percent shooting in the second half, while committing just five turnovers.

Tayton Conerway turned it on in the final 20 minutes, scoring 20 points on 4-6 shooting. He finished the night with a team-high 15 points, while also adding five assists, three rebounds and three steals. He has scored in double-figures in every single conference game this season.

Also scoring in double-digits for Troy wad Jackson Fields (12 points), Rigsby (11 points) and Seng (11 points). Troy is 5-2 this season when Fields scores 10-plus points this season. Thursday marked the first time since Troy beat LaGrange on Dec. 17, 2024, that it had four players score in double figures.

The Trojans turned it over just eight times, which is the fewest in a game this season and the fewest since they had eight against Marshall on Feb. 7, 2024, in Trojan Arena.

Georgia Southern beat Troy 38-30 in the rebounding battle, but the Trojans came up with crucial rebounds late in the game to help solidify the win. Thomas Dowd led the Trojans with eight boards. Troy is now 4-3 (2-1 SBC) when losing the rebounding battle this season.

Although it didn't win the battle on the glass, Troy still dominated in the paint by outscoring Georgia Southern 38-32. Fields and Jerrell Bellamy each had three blocks.

The Eagles were led by Tyson Brown, who had 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Quotable – head coach Scott Cross
"I am very thankful to the good Lord that we were able to pull this one out. We've had games where we definitely don't finish strong – Arkansas State, Texas State and Southern Miss. It was good to see our guys get stops down the stretch. Our matchup zone gave them trouble. We were able to keep ourselves out of foul trouble down the stretch, which I thought was big. Then, we were finally able to get some defensive rebounds. I thought that was the one thing we didn't do great at. But phenomenal job taking care of the basketball. That's the first time all year we've had less than 10 turnovers. That was a point of emphasis going into the game."

Up Next
Troy returns to Trojan Arena on Saturday afternoon for a showdown against ULM. The Warhawks are coming off back-to-back wins over South Alabama. Tipoff is scheduled for 3:33 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+ and the Troy Sports Media Network.

Game 21 Notables
• Troy moves to 14-16 all-time against Georgia Southern and has won the last three games.
• Troy moves to 7-0 this season when scoring more 80 or more points in a game. It's the first time in conference play that Troy has scored in the 80's. Under Scott Cross, Troy is 28-5 when scoring 39-5 when scoring 80-plus points.
• Tayton Conerway had a team-high 17 points. He has scored in double-digits in all 10 conference games this season.
• Conerway also recorded five assists and three steals. He has two-plus steals and three-plus assists in 19 of 21 games this season.
• Theo Seng scored 11 points – all in the first half – to help spur the Troy comeback. He has scored 10-plus points in five games this year.
• Jackson Fields had 12 points on the night, and Troy is 5-2 this season when he scores in double figures.
• Myles Rigsby had 11 points on 3-5 shooting.
• Troy had four players score in double-digits for the first time since Dec. 17, 2024, against LaGrange College.
• The Trojans committed a season-low eight turnovers. It's the fewest Troy has committed since it had eight against Marshall on Feb. 7 of last season.
• The Trojans forced Georgia Southern into 15 turnovers on Thursday.
• Jackson Fields and Jerrell Bellamy tied for a team-high three blocks in the win. Troy won the paint battle 38-32 and it proved to be a key difference in the game.
• Troy is in sole possession of second place in the Sun Belt standings.