Troy University’s men’s basketball team secured a 90-70 victory over Louisiana on Saturday in Lafayette, Louisiana. Six players scored in double digits, and 13 Trojans saw playing time during the game.
The team excelled in three-point shooting, making 17 out of 29 attempts for a 58.6 percent success rate. Troy also dominated rebounding, pulling down 42 boards compared to Louisiana’s 19, with a notable edge in offensive rebounds at 24-13. This led to 30 second-chance points for Troy.
Thomas Dowd was the top scorer for Troy (11-6, 4-1) with 15 points. Victor Valdes contributed 12 points and seven assists. Kerrington Kiel, making his fourth start of the season, added 11 points, four rebounds, and three assists.
For Louisiana (4-14, 2-4), Dorian Finister led all scorers with 25 points.
Troy started strong by scoring the first nine points of the game through consecutive three-pointers from Cobi Campbell and Cooper Campbell. Cooper Campbell ended the first half perfect from beyond the arc with four made threes and totaled 12 points before halftime.
The Trojans shot nearly 56 percent from the field overall in the first half and just under 67 percent from long range. A second-chance layup by Valdes gave Troy its largest lead of the half at 21 points; they went into halftime ahead by eighteen.
Louisiana opened the second half with a seven-point run—their biggest of the afternoon—but Kiel responded quickly to restore Troy’s advantage to twenty points at one stage. With just under nine minutes left, Victor Valdes connected with Theo Seng for an alley-oop dunk that extended Troy’s lead to twenty-four.
Jerrell Bellamy added two dunks during the second half as well. In closing minutes, Coach Scott Cross rotated bench players Javen Colbert, Emmanuel Clarton, Evan Griffin, and Hikaru Awata onto the court; Griffin scored Troy’s final basket on an assist from Clarton.
Head coach Scott Cross commented after the win: “I feel like today was the most unselfish we’ve played all year long. The ball was moving around, and we got hot from the outside. It was one of those nights where everything was falling. But we also won it on the boards; that was the biggest thing. We had 18 offensive rebounds which translated to 30 second chance points, which was the difference in the game.”
Among other highlights:
– The team’s total of seventeen three-pointers matched their highest since February last year.
– The Trojans’ thirty second-chance points were their most this season.
– Their three-point shooting percentage is their best with at least seventeen makes since at least fifteen years ago.
– Six players scoring ten or more marked their highest since December.
– They did not record any steals—something not seen since February five years ago.
– Their twenty-five assists are their most against Division I opposition in regulation play since November sixteen years ago.
Individual milestones included Thomas Dowd setting a career high with five assists and Kerrington Kiel posting a personal-best eleven points. Redshirt freshman Hikaru Awata made his collegiate debut during this match.
Troy’s all-time record against Louisiana now stands at eleven wins to twenty-three losses.
Next up for Troy is a home matchup against Southern Miss on Wednesday evening; fans can watch via ESPN+ or listen through the Troy Sports Media Network.
