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On Thursday, a Texas State Bobcats (9-7, 2-2) free throw with one second remaining handed the Troy Trojans (10-5, 3-1) their first Sun Belt Conference loss of the season in heartbreaking fashion. 

With just seven seconds left in the game, Dothan native Thomas Dowd knocked down a layup to tie the game up 73-73. On Texas State’s ensuing possession, however, the Trojans fouled Texas State’s Tylan Pope has he went for a game-winning shot. Pope knocked down 1-of-2 free throws to seal the win. 

Troy dominated the first half, leading 41-32 at halftime. In the second half, Texas State had a big start to the half and managed to tie things up 51-51 with 12:26 left. Troy and TSU battled back-and-forth for the remainder of the contest. 

Troy shot 47.8 percent from the field and Texas State shot 42.4 percent, while Texas State won the rebound battle 34-31 and outscored Troy in the paint 36-32. Troy also turned the ball over 15 times, compared to Texas State’s 13. Though, Troy scored 18 points off turnovers compared to the Bobcats’ 13. 

“The first 10 minutes we played the right way,” Troy Coach Scott Cross said. “Then, it seemed we got a little bit selfish, honestly. We started thinking about stat sheets and stopped thinking about doing the little things like defending, rebounding; all the things that made us successful. Honestly, we self-destructed. They were tougher than us. They had more will. They had more grit to them. For one reason or another, our guys didn’t sit down and defend.”

Tayton Conerway led Troy with 15 points, four assists, five steals and two blocks, while Myles Rigsby added 12 points, three rebounds and one block. Dowd tallied eight points, six rebounds, three assists and two blocks, while both Jerrell Bellamy and Theo Seng scored nine points each. 

Texas State was led by Pope with 27 point and 10 rebounds. Mark Drone came off the bench to score 17 points and dish three assists, while Kaden Gumbs tallied 11 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals. 

South Alabama is now the lone undefeated team in the conference with both Troy and Old Dominion tied for second place. Troy is back at Trojan Arena on Saturday to face off against Arkansas State in another conference game at 3:33 p.m.