Troy men’s, women’s basketball fall in weekend matchups
Published 10:40 am Monday, November 13, 2023
- Dothan native Thomas Dowd scored 22 points against Oregon State. (Photo courtesy of Troy University Athletics)
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Both the Troy Trojans men and women’s basketball teams took losses over the weekend, the women losing to Ball State and the men falling to Oregon State.
The men’s team lost a heartbreaker to Oregon State on the road on Nov. 10 by a score of 81-80 in double overtime. The two sides battled back-and-forth for the entirety of the game. They tied 32-32 at halftime but Troy trailed 59-54 with just 1:33 left in regulation.
After a Troy turnover, Aamer Muhammad earned a steal and slung the ball down court to a streaking Christyon Eugene who laid the ball up to cut the lead 59-56 with 1:09 left. He also earned a foul on the shot and knocked down his free throw attempt to cut the lead to just two.
After another Muhammad steal, he knocked down 1-of-2 free throws to cut the lead to 59-58 with 55 seconds left in regulation. With just five seconds left, Oregon State drilled a pair of free throws to extend the lead to 61-58 and it looked like that would seal the win, but Dothan’s Thomas Dowd had other ideas. The Troy freshman knocked down a three-pointer as the buzzer sounded to send the game into overtime.
In the first overtime period, Troy again trailed by four with 3:15 left before starting to chip away at the lead. With 1:31 left, Dowd knocked down a layup to give Troy a 70-69 lead. An Oregon State free throw tied things up with 1:01 left but Troy’s Randarius Jones drove hard to the basket and knocked down a shot to give Troy the lead back 72-70 with 46 seconds left. With just nine seconds remaining, Oregon State’s Jordan Pope knocked down a tying jumper to send the game into a second overtime.
Troy led for almost the entirety of the second overtime, leading by as many as four, but Oregon State knocked down a jumper to tie things up with six seconds left. He was also fouled on the shot and his free throw secured the win for the Beavers.
For the game, Troy shot 33.8 percent from the field, while Oregon State shot 42.4 percent. Troy also turned the ball over 23 times and forced 21 turnovers, while Oregon State narrowly won the rebound battle 43-41.
Dowd led Troy with 22 points and eight rebounds, while Muhammad added 15 points, three rebounds our assists and two steals. Eugene and Tayton Conerway chipped in with 11 points each. Eugene also earned seven rebounds, six assists and a steal, while Conerway grabbed two rebounds and earned two steals.
The men’s team will look to bounce back at home on Nov. 14 against Reinhardt at 7:30 p.m.
The Troy women opened up the regular season with an 86-71 loss to Ball State in Trojan Arena on Nov. 11. The Trojans trailed by as many as 16 in the first quarter and were down 22-14 going into the second period. Troy was again outscored 25-18 in the second quarter and Ball State led 47-32 at halftime. The Trojans trailed 70-51 going into the final period and managed to outscore Ball State for the first in a period, 20-16, but it wasn’t enough.
The story of the game was turnovers as Troy gave up 23 turnovers in the loss, compared to Ball State’s 13. Ball State also managed to turn those 23 turnovers in 26 points. Troy also lost the battle in the paint 48-34 but won the rebound battle 41-27. Ball State shot 47.9 percent from the field and Troy shot 42.2 percent from the field.
Ja’Mia Hollings led Troy with 18 points, nine points and one block, while Zay Dyer earned 11 points and nine rebounds in her Troy debut. Shaulana Wagner added 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists, while Tai’Sheka Porchia earned 10 points, five rebounds and one block. Nia Daniel blocked two shots and Sharonica Hartsfield dished 10 assists.
The women will try to bounce back on Tuesday with a home matchup against Samford at 5:15 p.m.