Troy tops UTSA in Trojan Turkey Tipoff

Published 9:32 am Tuesday, November 26, 2024

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The Troy Trojans (4-2) returned home on Monday night to knock off the UTSA Roadrunners (1-3) by a score of 86-72 in the opening game of the Trojan Turkey Tipoff.

The two sides exchanged leads early but then Troy began to take over midway through the first half and never looked back. The Trojans outscored UTSA 42-29 in the first half and 44-43 in the second half. Troy shot a season-high 54.9 percent from the field, while holding UTSA to 43.6 shooting. While UTSA outrebounded Troy 28-27, the Trojans forced 20 turnovers and scored 18 points of turnovers. Troy also outscored UTSA 34-18 in the paint.

“It was a really good offensive performance by our guys,” Troy Coach Scott Cross said. “One of the best all-around for 40 minutes. We did some good things defensively. We forced them to turn the ball over quite a bit. I wish we did a better job holding them to a lower percentage, and not giving up so many threes. Sometimes when we’re hitting shots, the defense drops a little bit. I told the guys this team could be really special once we put it all together.”

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Myles Rigsby scored a season-high 17 points with three steals in the win, while Jerrell Bellamy came off the bench to score 15 points. Tayton Conerway also added 15 points, six rebounds, three assists and five steals, while Cooper Campbell scored 10 points. A total of nine Trojans scored with seven scoring seven points or more.

UTSA was led by Primo Spears with 20 points and four assists, while Damari Monsanto scored 19 points.

Troy remains home Friday afternoon for another game in the Trojan Turkey Tipoff against Merrimack on Friday at 1 p.m. at Trojan Arena.