PENSACOLA, Fla. -- Thomas Dowd finished with 23 points and 13 rebounds, and regular-season champion Troy ended the five-day run of No. 10 seed Georgia Southern with a 77-61 victory in the championship game of the Sun Belt Conference tournament on Monday night.
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.
ORLANDO – When Troy needed its defense the most, one of the best units in the country stepped up as it had done all season and stuffed UTSA four times from the 5-yard line as No. 23 Troy defeated No. 22 UTSA, 18-12, in the Duluth Trading Cure Bowl on Saturday at Experia Stadium.
Troy (12-2) took the six-point lead on a Brooks Buce 27-yard field goal with just over nine minutes to play in the game, but UTSA (11-3) found itself on the Trojan 5-yard line just four plays later following a 53-yard run by Kevorian Barnes.
The Trojans held Barnes to two yards on first down, and the Troy defense forced three straight incompletions from C-USA MVP Frank Harris to turn the Roadrunners over on downs. Troy's offense milked more than four minutes off the clock on the ensuing possession, and the Trojan defense yielded just one first down before again forcing UTSA to turn the ball over on downs and end the game.
Richard Jibunor forced a pair of turnovers, and game MVP KJ Robertson returned an interception 61 yards to pace a Troy defense that forced five UTSA turnovers in the game and shut down one of the nation's most prolific offenses.
The win was Troy's 11th straight dating back to a Hail Mary loss at App State in week three, while the Trojans' 12th win of the season is a new FBS record for the program and ties the school record set by the NCAA Division II National Champion team in 1987 and the 1993 FCS squad.
The 12 points scored by the Roadrunners were their fewest since Oct. 2020, and the loss snapped UTSA's 10-game winning streak. It was Troy's first win over a ranked opponent since defeating No. 22 LSU in 2017.
UTSA scored the game's first 12 points on a safety, a 2-yard touchdown pass and a 42-yard field goal within the first 21 minutes. From that point on, Troy's defense held the Roadrunners scoreless and forced the five turnovers.
Kimani Vidal put the Trojans on the board with a 2-yard run in the final seconds of an opening half that saw Troy muster just 66 yards of total offense, mainly due to poor starting field position; the Trojans started four drives inside their own 8-yard line.
Robertson turned the game on a dime with his fourth career interception. Leading by five and driving late in the third quarter, UTSA faced a 3rd-and-8 from the Troy 9-yard line when Robertson picked off Harris and returned it 61 yards to the UTSA 37-yard line and an unsportsmanlike penalty moved the ball to the 22-yard line.
Five plays later, Gunnar Watson connected with RaJae' Johnson on a 12-yard strike to put the Trojans in front 13-12; Watson followed with a successful 2-point conversion pass to Clayton Ollendieck extending the Troy lead out to three with 2:34 to play in the third quarter.
The game marked the final one for All-American Carlton Martial in a Troy uniform, and he went out in style. One day after receiving a Senior Bowl invite, Martial posted a game-high 14 tackles as he set the Troy career record with 577 tackles; Martial had previously set the NCAA FBS and Sun Belt career records.
Quotable
"One thing I really wanted – win, lose or draw – was for my daughter to see me play one time," said Robertson, whose two-year-old daughter Layla Drew Hooper was in the stands. "If she remembers it or not, I loved it. It was the best feeling in the world. I really don't know how to even explain it. She was born during COVID, so I didn't want her at the games. Things happened and she wasn't able to make it to any games even after that."
"The turnovers were timely, and we were fortunate enough to get 'em. If we don't get them or those stops, we don't win," Troy head coach Jon Sumrall said. "To hold those guys to 12 points, I don't know what to say. We stayed together all year, and I could not be more proud. I just hope they keep us in the Top 25."
Notable
• Troy extended its winning streak to 11 games with the victory, Troy's longest winning streak since 1995 when that squad also won 11 straight games. Troy's winning streak is tied for the third longest in the country.
• Troy has now won 58 games since the start of the 2016 season; the 18th most wins nationally and the sixth most in the Group of Five over that time.
• Troy has now won five straight bowl games dating back to the 2010 New Orleans Bowl. The Trojans are 6-3 all-time in bowl games at the FBS level and 20-12 in the postseason (NAIA, DII, FCS, FBS).
• Troy's 12 wins are the most in program history at the FBS level and tied for the most in school history (1993, FCS; 1987 DII National Champions).
• Troy improves to 3-28 all-time against ranked opponents -- No. 17 Missouri, 2004 (24-14); No. 22 LSU, 2017 (24-21); No. 22 UTSA (18-12).
• Linebacker KJ Robertson was named the game's MVP after recording nine tackles and returning an interception 61 yards setting up Troy's go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter. He is the second defensive player to earn the Cure Bowl MVP in the history of the game.
• Left tackle Austin Stidham started his 62nd career game, which is the most in Troy history passing Cameron Kaye's 61 career starts; Dell Pettus' started his team-leading 47th straight game.
• Troy improved to 5-1 this season when trailing at the half and 5-1 when scoring less than 21 points; Troy was 11-73 when trailing at the half and 5-52 when scoring less than 21 points since 2005 prior to this season.
• Troy outscored UTSA 11-0 in the second half; the Trojans entered the game ranked 12th nationally with a +6.69 scoring margin in the second half.
• RaJae' Johnson caught two passes for 41 yards and the go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter. He caught four of his seven touchdown passes on the season in Troy's final three games.
• Troy's 169 yards of total offense was its fewest in a bowl game in program history; previous low was 292 in the 2004 Silicon Valley Classic vs. Northern Illinois.
• Carlton Martial recorded 14 tackles in the game and finished his career with 577; Martial set the Troy school record in the game and already held the NCAA FBS and Sun Belt career records.
• Troy forced five UTSA turnovers in the game, which is the fourth time in Troy's bowl history it has forced five turnovers in a game.
• Troy entered bowl season second nationally having forced 163 tackles since the start of the 2016 season, the Trojans are now tied with UCF for the most in that period. The Trojans were third averaging 1.63 turnovers forced per game.
• Troy held UTSA scoreless in the second half; the Trojans entered the game holding opponents to 8.77 points per game in the second half (14th fewest in the country) and 3.92 points in the fourth quarter (sixth fewest).
• Troy held UTSA scoreless in the fourth quarter; the Trojans held 8-of-13 opponents scoreless in the fourth quarter this season.
• Troy held UTSA to just 12 points ... the Roadrunners lowest output since Oct. 31, 2020.
• UTSA entered the game ranked 12th nationally in scoring offense averaging 38.7 points per game; its previous low scoring output this season was 20 points at No. 20 Texas.
• Brooks Buce improved to 17-of-19 on field goal attempts this season after booting a 27-yard kick against UTSA. His 89.5 field goal percentage is the highest in a single-season in school history.
• Brooks Buce finished his Troy career 25-of-28 after going 1,751 days in between field goal attempts (senior year of high school and ULM in 2021.
TROY, Ala. – On the one-year anniversary of his first team meeting as Troy's head coach, Sun Belt Coach of the Year Jon Sumrall led his team to the 2022 Hercules Tires Sun Belt Conference Football Championship on his home field.
Troy scored on five of its first six drives, jumping out to a 31-0 advantage, and never trailed Saturday en route to claiming the league title. The Trojans earned a 45-26 win against Coastal Carolina on Saturday in front of 21,554 fans at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
“A year ago today is the first time I had a team meeting here in this room with the guys about the direction we were about to take this thing,” Sumrall said. “I wanted them to understand that things weren’t going to be the same and we were going to work harder than they’d ever worked. They bought in. We invest deeply in relationships with our players and care deeply about them.”
Troy (11-2) extended its win streak to 10 games. For the Trojans, it is their seventh all-time Sun Belt Football Championship and their third outright Sun Belt crown. Troy’s seventh all-time Sun Belt Football Championship marks the most by any program in league history.
“I’m really proud of our guys for their toughness through adversity,” Sumrall said. “This bunch has earned it. They’ve adjusted to a lot of new things and changes that were probably uncomfortable at first. I could not be more proud to be the head coach of the Troy Trojans.”
Troy’s 10-game winning streak – its longest at the FBS level – is the first for the Trojans since an 11-game spree in 1995. The streak began after the team started the season 1-2, including a heartbreaking 32-28 loss at App State on Sept. 17.
Troy’s junior quarterback Gunnar Watson was named the Hercules Tires Sun Belt Football Championship Game Most Valuable Player. He completed 12-of-17 passes for 318 yards with three touchdown strikes. It was his fifth career three touchdown performance.
“I think we had a really good plan for them,” Watson said. “It just seemed like everything was going right for us. I think when we came out the first drive and got a field goal, next drive we scored, momentum was on our side and we kept rolling with it.”
Wide receiver RaJae’ Johnson caught four passes for 134 yards with a pair of touchdowns. His 134 receiving yards marked a Sun Belt Football Championship Game record. Fellow receiver Deshon Stoudemire had three catches for 99 yards with a touchdown. Running back DK Billingsley rushed for three touchdowns on 57 total yards, moving him into 10th place in Troy school history for career rushing touchdowns.
Troy’s star linebacker Carlton Martial, the 2022 Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year, is the all-time leading tackler in NCAA FBS history. He finished with nine tackles on Saturday to give him Troy’s all-divisions school record for career tackles with 563.
“When I lay my head down on my pillow, I think I’ll be satisfied,” Martial said.
Coastal Carolina (9-3), which is 31-6 since the start of the 2020 campaign, lost back-to-back games for the first time since 2019.
“First of all, let’s congratulate Jon and his staff and his team,” Coastal Carolina head coach Jamey Chadwell said. “They’re champions; they’ve earned that. They’ve had a tremendous season and they came out and really took it to us from the opening drive. We could not respond at all there in the first half. I was proud of our team trying to come back there in the second half. I thought we showed a lot of effort, a lot of fight. I was disappointed in the outcome, but I’m not disappointed in this team.”
Chanticleers’ quarterback Grayson McCall, the three-time Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year who had not seen game action since being injured in his team’s Nov. 3 contest against App State, completed 29-of-41 passes for 319 yards with three touchdowns. He became Coastal’s all-time leader in career touchdowns responsible for and extended his streak to at least one touchdown pass in 23 consecutive games.
Troy opened the scoring with a field goal on the game’s opening drive, completing a nine-play, 57-yard series with a 35-yard field goal by Brooks Buce.
After forcing Coastal Carolina into a three-and-out in the next series, Troy’s Stoudemire hauled in a pass from Watson for a 65-yard score that gave the Trojans a 10-0 advantage.
On its third drive of the game, Troy’s Billingsley rushed for an eight-yard touchdown that completed a four-play, 62-yard drive. The Trojans led 17-0 after the first quarter.
Early in the second quarter, Billingsley ran in his second touchdown of the game with a 33-yard rush for score to extend Troy’s advantage to 24-0.
Less than three minutes later, Johnson snared a pass from Watson and ran it in 67 yards for the touchdown with 9:47 remaining in the second quarter. That marked the longest touchdown reception in Sun Belt Football Championship Game history and put the Trojans in front 31-0.
With 29 seconds remaining until halftime, Coastal Carolina put its first points on the board when McCall called his own number and ran eight yards for the touchdown.
Troy held a 31-7 advantage at intermission.
The Chanticleers scored quickly out of halftime as McCall found Jared Brown, the 2022 Sun Belt Freshman of the Year, down the middle for a 30-yard touchdown strike, but the two-point conversion effort failed.
Troy scored twice more in the third quarter, first when Johnson caught his second touchdown pass of the day, a 36-yard reception from Watson to put Troy ahead 38-13.
On the next series, McCall fumbled for Coastal Carolina and Troy recovered on its own seven-yard line. Eight plays later, Billingsley rushed up the middle for a three-yard touchdown – his third of the day. That gave the Trojans a 45-13 advantage entering the fourth quarter.
McCall threw for a pair of scores in the fourth quarter to make the final 45-26 margin. The first was an 11-yard toss to Sam Pinckney and the second was a 21-yard reception by Tyson Mobley.
NOTABLES
• The all-time series between Coastal Carolina and Troy is now tied 3-3. The Chanticleers had won three consecutive meetings in the series before Saturday’s win by the Trojans.
• The home team is undefeated in the Sun Belt Football Championship with the host institution winning each of the four Sun Belt Football Championship Games.
• The match-up between Coastal Carolina and Troy marked the only conference football championship game in the nation that featured both teams with two-or-fewer losses.
• Troy’s 7-0 record at home ties the school record for best home record with the 1996 squad.
• Troy set a season attendance record with an average of 25,661 fans per contest. The Trojans set the school single-game attendance record against Army on Nov. 12 with 31,010 fans.
• Troy has won 57 games since the start of the 2016 season, which ranks tied for 21st-most in the nation and during that time and seventh most among non-autonomy conferences.
