For the first time since 2010, the Troy Trojans got to experience cutting down the net after a championship with a celebration at Trojan Arena on Monday night. 

The entire Troy team cut down the net in recognition of their regular season conference championship, which will also be shared with South Alabama, James Madison and Arkansas State after all four teams tied for first place.

“It was awesome,” Troy Coach Scott Cross said of cutting down the net. “Probably the best feeling was being in the locker room with the guys seeing when Texas State upset JMU and we had just beaten Southern Miss. That was probably the ultimate high and then the bus ride home was amazing. This feels good, though.

“I wanted the guys to have that opportunity to do that because it’s a special deal. I’ve been (coaching) since 1998 and there’s only been four or so that I’ve cut down. You can’t take it for granted.”

While the Trojans got to celebrate the championship for one night, they still have plenty of goals left in front of them.

“I told our guys we’re going to celebrate tonight but after that we’re going to take these (championship) shirts and put them back in our closet and we’re not going to bring them back out until the season is over with, because we have bigger goals,” Cross emphasized. “I want our guys to have a one track mind, to get better tomorrow and then get better the next day. Go in there (to the conference tournament) and win one game at a time for three days in a row. If we do that, we’ll realize all of our goals and I firmly believe this group is capable of doing that.”

Senior Tayton Conerway echoed his coach’s mindset.

“We’re going to enjoy this moment but the job isn’t finished,” Conerway flatly said. “We’ll enjoy it today but then we’ll put these shirts up and bring them back out once we win the (tournament) championship.” 

Conerway was also named Conference Player of the Year on Monday.

“It feels amazing,” Conerway said with a smile. “I got to talk to my mom and seeing her face, and how happy she was for me, means everything in the world. Just being able to make her proud, there’s no feeling like it.”

Cross said no player was more deserving of the honor than Conerway.

“I told him last week, just trying to encourage and motivate him, that if we win a championship he’ll be player of the year,” said Cross. “You can just eyeball the stat sheet and look at the numbers and the numbers don’t lie. He’s been phenomenal. 

“He has great points, his field goal percentage is high, his free throw percentage is high, he leads the league – and maybe the country – in steals, he gets a ton of rebounds, his assist-to-turnover ratio is great and he averages the most assists on the team. He is a stat stuffer and we need every single one of our guys but he is the guy that kind of makes us go.”

Troy will play in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in Pensacola, Fla., on March 8 at 8 p.m.