Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The Troy Trojans (11-7, 4-3) men’s basketball team dropped a heartbreaking 64-63 Sun Belt Conference loss to their rival South Alabama Jaguars (14-5, 6-1) on Saturday on the road.

The loss came despite a furious comeback in the second half. Troy trailed 42-22 at halftime as it seemed like the Jags would dominate their way to a win. Troy, however, came out swinging in the second half and outscored South Alabama 41-22 in the final half of play. 

Troy clung to a 63-62 lead when South Alabama’s Myles Corey drove to the basket for a game-winning layup only for it to bounce off the rim and into the hands of Troy’s Thomas Dowd for what would have likely been the game-sealing rebound. The ball was then tipped out of bounds by what seemed to clearly be a South Alabama player only for the officials to rule that it was tipped off Dowd’s hands. Even after the replay, South Alabama was given the ball with 2.9 seconds left.

South’s Barry Dunning Jr. was then fouled by Dowd on the ensuing possession and he converted 1-of-2 free throws to give the Jaguars the one-point win. 

“It was a tale of two halves. First half, we had no energy,” Troy Coach Scott Cross said. “We didn’t turn them over. We couldn’t hang onto the ball. We couldn’t catch the ball. We weren’t passing it good. But out guys played extremely hard, and to get back into that game is a testament to our guys. I’m proud of them for the way they fought.”

Troy shot 35.1 percent from the field in the game but 42.4 percent in the second half, while South Alabama shot 40.4 percent for the game. The Trojans won the rebound battle 42-35  but were outscored 24-22 in the paint and 14-10 in second-chance points. Troy forced 15 turnovers but gave up 14 of its own. 

Tayton Conerway had another big night for Troy, totaling 23 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals as he was the only Trojan in double digits in scoring. Dowd added eight points, six rebounds and three steals, while Marcus Rigsby Jr. scored eight points and grabbed four rebounds. Myles Rigsby, who has been battling through an undisclosed injury, returned to the lineup for Troy and scored five points and grabbed five rebounds with three steals in 22 minutes of action. 

South Alabama was led was by Dunning with 14 points and eight rebounds, while Judah Brown tallied 12 points and Randy Brady scored 11 points with six rebounds. 

Troy now sits in fourth place of the Sun Belt, while South Alabama remains in first place. The Trojans will look to get back on track this Thursday, Jan. 23, at home against Southern Miss in another conference game at 6 p.m. before rematching South Alabama on Saturday at 5 p.m.