Troy men rebound to throttle West Georgia

Published 9:33 am Wednesday, November 20, 2024

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The Troy Trojans (3-2) rebounded, after two straight losses, to pick up a resounding 84-65 win over the West Georgia Wolves (0-5) on the road Tuesday.

The two sides slugged it out early – with eight different lead changes – until Troy went on a 12-0 run midway through the first half and never looked back. The Trojans led 47-28 and the two sides both scored 37 points in the second half.

Troy shot 51 percent from the field and 40 percent from three-point land, while holding West Georgia to 45.9 percent shooting and 30.8 percent three-point shooting. While the Trojans lost the rebound battle 29-26, Troy forced 16 turnovers and scored 24 points off those turnovers. Troy also scored 18 fast break points and dished 16 assists compared to 11 turnovers.

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“It was a brutal road trip. We were in four different hotels in four different cities,” Troy Coach Scott Cross said. “We traveled clear across the country twice. We didn’t get to practice yesterday. We knew it was going to be tough. West Georgia’s been on the road playing Power Five teams.

“We knew this was their first home game and that it was going to be a challenge. It was our best offensive performance, especially in the first half. A lot of credit goes to our guys,”

Jackson Fields led the Trojans with 15 points, seven rebounds and one steal, while Victor Valdes poured in 15 points. Myles Rigsby added 11 points, four rebounds, two assists and three steals. Marcus Rigsby Jr. also chipped in with 10 points and four assists. West Georgia was led by Shelton Williams-Dryden with 14 points and seven rebounds.

Following the Troy win, Cross took a page out of Troy Football head coach Gerad Parker’s playbook by saying the Trojans were heading to Buc-ee’s on their way home. The win over West Georgia closes out a brutal road stretch that saw Troy travel to New Orleans, Arkansas, Oregon and West Georgia over a week’s span. Troy now heads back to the friendly confines of Trojan Arena for the Trojan Turkey Tipoff with games against UTSA on Nov. 25 and Merrimack on Nov. 29.