Troy University Athletics
Troy University
15-6,8-1Sun Belt
Georgia Southern
13-9,5-4Sun Belt
Troy Extends Win Streak to Five with Victory at Georgia Southern
1/24/2026 6:57:00 PM | Basketball (M)
STATESBORO, Ga. – Thomas Dowd recorded his fourth consecutive double-double and Victor Valdes scored 20-plus points for the seventh time this season, as Troy men's basketball earned a hard-fought 83–78 road victory over Georgia Southern on Saturday.
The win moved the Trojans to 8-1 in Sun Belt play - tops in the conference by two games. Troy has won five straight games for the second time this season and is 9-1 over its last 10 contests.
Troy (15-6, 8-1) had four players score in double figures, led by Valdes' 22 points. Dowd added 16, while Cobi Campbell and Jerrell Bellamy contributed 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Troy opened the game scoring the first five points, starting with a Cobi Campbell 3-pointer. Georgia Southern would get on the board the next possession, but Troy led 10-2 two minutes into the ballgame.
At the first media timeout of the game Troy was shooting 7-of-8 overall and 4-of-4 from behind the arc. Cobi Campbell made all four of his threes in the opening 20 minutes of play and three within the first six minutes.
Jerrell Bellamy also dominated in the first half, scoring all 10 of his points in the period. Bellamy provided a spark to the Trojan offense, throwing down four thunderous dunks.
Troy shot 66.7% from the field and 63.6% from three in the first half, taking a 47-38 lead into the locker room.
The second half started in Troy's advantage, as Victor Valdes made a shot to give him three of his game-high 22 points.
The Cardinal and White were not as effective offensively in the second half, however, as multiple scoring droughts allowed the Eagles to make it a tight game. Troy did not score from 14:04 to 8:03 in game time.
Over that time, Georgia Southern was able to take its first lead of the game from an Applewhite 3-pointer.
Kerrington Kiel put an end to the 10-0 Eagles run with a layup plus the foul, courtesy of a Cooper Campbell steal.
The rest of the game, just over eight minutes of game time, was a fight as the teams traded leads on multiple occasions.
It was Troy's tenacity that ultimately won the game. With the game tied at 74 and 1:27 remaining, Thomas Dowd fought through went up and snatched an offensive rebound off a missed free throw, putting it right back up for the layup while getting fouled in the process.
Dowd hit his free throw, extending Troy's lead to three.
After Georgia Southern made two free throws of its own, Valdes banked in a driving layup to push the advantage back to three.
Valdes made two more free throws a few possessions later, and a defensive stop up three allowed Troy to finish off the victory, 83-78.
Georgia Southern (13-9, 5-4) was led by 19 points from Alden Applewhite, who also added three steals.
Quotable – Head Coach Scott Cross
"I'm thankful to the good Lord for this victory. Victor Valdes was phenomenal down the stretch for us, and we got stops and rebounds in the last couple of minutes. On Monday, we get to start it all over, we can't take any games off. Any team in this league is capable of beating us and we have to have the right mentality every possession. If we do that, I think we have a good chance at winning the league."
Notables
- Thomas Dowd's 12 double-doubles is tied for fourth in the country and just three behind Delrocco Gillespie of Kent State, who has a nation high 15 double-doubles this season.
- Dowd set a career high against Georgia Southern with seven made free throws.
- Troy has won three straight true road games, its longest streak this season.
- Troy's 15-6 record is its best record through 21 contests since the 2003-04 season. Troy was 16-5 through 21 games that year.
- Troy is off to its best conference start through nine games since the 2002-03 season when Troy began the A-SUN season with a 10-1 record. That team would go on to win the conference and advance to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history.
- Troy is now 14-16 all-time against Georgia Southern.
Up Next
Troy returns home for two games next week, beginning with James Madison on Thursday, Jan. 29 at 6 p.m. The game will stream on ESPN+ and available to listen to on the Troy Sports Media Network.
