On March 10th, Troy's men's basketball team punched their ticket to the NCAA tournament for the second year in a row, dominating Georgia Southern. 77-61 in the Sun Belt Conference Championship game, the Trojans finished their regular season at 22 wins and 11 losses, claiming the outright title and the top seed. They cruised through the tournament, beating Southern Miss earlier to reach the final. Troy controlled the game from the start, shooting nearly 60% from the field and owning the boards with a 35-17 rebounding.
Edge. They built double-digit leads and never let Georgia Southern close the gap after halftime. The Eagles, who had won five straight to get there, couldn't keep up offensively. Thomas Dow star with 23 points and 13 rebounds for his 17th double-double, earning tournament most outstanding player, honors.
Gerald Bellamy made the all-tournament team after averaging 18.5 points over two games. Coach Scott Cross picked up his 350th career win. This marks Troy's third Sun Belt title and their first repeat as champions since Georgia State back in 2018-19. Dow hit the 1,000-point milestone and the team held Georgia Southern's top scorer to just 10 points on poor shooting.
Now the Trojans prepare for Selection Sunday on March 15th at 5 p.m., central time when they'll learn their first round matchup and head to. The Big Dance still seeking that first tournament win.