Wofford: 2024-25 Southern Men's Basketball Champions

 

ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- Jackson Sivills scored a career-high 20 points and hit a go-ahead 3-pointer in a game-ending 15-2 run as Wofford rallied to beat Furman 92-85 in the Southern Conference tournament championship game Monday night.

Wofford trailed 83-79 with 2:34 remaining. Kyler Filewich then made a layup and Sivills drilled his 3-pointer to put the Terriers (19-15) on top for good.

Sivills, a fifth-year senior, made 6 of 9 shots with four 3-pointers for No. 6 seed Wofford, which earns an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament for the sixth time. The Terriers won four conference titles between 2009 and 2015 and last won it in the 2018-19 season.

Justin Bailey added 19 points and seven rebounds for Wofford. Dillon Bailey scored 15 and teamed up with Justin -- no relation -- to make 7 of 12 from beyond the arc. Filewich added 13 points and six boards. Corey Tripp had 11 points, 8 assists and 6 rebounds.

PJay Smith Jr. led the Paladins (25-9) with 27 points. He made four 3-pointers and all 11 of his foul shots. Nick Anderson had 15 points, and Garrett Hien and Charles Johnston scored 13 and 12, respectively, before fouling out. Cooper Bowser scored 11.

Wofford scored the first eight points and maintained a lead until Johnston buried a 3-pointer with 63 seconds left in the first half to help Furman go up 37-35 at halftime. Smith had a four-point play and did not miss a shot, leading all scorers with 12. Sivills hit three 3-pointers and scored 11.

Furman was aiming for its eighth tournament title and first since 2022-23. The Paladins won six of them in the 1970s.

Troy: 2024-25 Sun Belt Men's Basketball Champions

 

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) — Tayton Conerway, the Sun Belt Conference player of the year, scored 16 of his 21 points in the second half, Myles Rigsby added 20 points and No. 3 seed Troy beat fourth-seeded Arkansas State 94-81 on Monday night to clinch Troy basketballa spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017.

Troy basketball (23-10) won the Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament for just the third time in program history.

Arkansas State (24-10) was in the championship game for the second year in a row, battling for its first NCAA berth since 1999 and second in school history.

Troy trailed 66-58 with 10 minutes to go before going on 24-4 run, sparked by Conerway’s 12 points, to go ahead 82-70 with 2:12 left. It was the first double-digit lead of the game.

The Trojans made seven straight shots at the end of the run, while Arkansas State went 2 of 13 from the field over eight minutes.

Troy shot 65% from the field in the second half, getting 16 points from Rigsby and 11 from Thomas Dowd.

Dowd finished with 14 points and nine rebounds, and Jackson Fields added 10 points for Troy, which won its sixth straight game.

Dyondre Dominguez led Arkansas State with 19 points and Derrian Ford added 17. Terrance Ford Jr. had 11 points and seven assists, and Kobe Julien and Joseph Pinion each scored 10.

Conerway finished the tournament with 61 points after scoring 18 in quarterfinals against Old Dominion and 22 in semifinals versus No. 2 seed James Madison. He was 8 of 17 from the field against the Red Wolves.