For the first time since 2017, the Troy Trojans (22-10) will play for a Sun Belt Conference Tournament Championship after knocking off the No. 2 seed James Madison Dukes (20-12) by a score of 79-60 in the conference semifinals in Pensacola, Fla., on Sunday.

Troy came out swinging in the first half, opening up an 11-0 lead before James Madison finally hit its first basket nearly five minutes into the game. Troy never trailed in the contest and the game was never tied after the Trojans took their initial 3-0 lead in the opening moments.

After Troy jumped out to a 19-5 lead, JMU began to rally and cut the lead to 19-13 and the two sides started to trade blows with the Trojans holding a 27-20 lead with 4:05 left in the half. Troy then went on an 8-0 run to close the half and take a 40-23 lead into halftime. Troy held JMU to just 23 percent shooting in the 20 minutes of action.

James Madison made a 6-0 run to open the second half and cut the lead to 52-42. The Dukes further cut the lead to 55-46 with 7:39 remaining, which was the first time the Trojans led by less than 10 points since the first half. JMU’s 6-0 run turned into a 13-3 run.

After a near three-minute field goal drought for Troy, Jackson Fields buried his fifth three-pointer to put Troy up 59-50 with 6:21 left. Thomas Dowd then knocked down a layup to cap off a 6-0 Trojan run to put the Trojans up 63-50 with 5:15 left. Troy never led by less than 13 points for the remainder of the game.

Troy coach Scott Cross said the big start from the Trojans played a big part in the win.

“It was big,” he flatly said. “We’ve had games where we were up 17 (points) and let it slip away. We got up 16-17 (points) early and they made a run and cut it to single digits. We bent but didn’t break. They did the same thing in the second half.

“We have to be aggressive and be in ‘hunt mode.’ When we’re on our heels, we’re not very good but when our guys are aggressive, and out to hunt, that’s when we play our best basketball and that’s the mentality they had for the majority of the game”

Troy shot 42.7 percent from the field and held JMU to 32.3 percent shooting. The Trojans also won the rebound battle 41-34 and outscored the Dukes 30-20 in the paint. Thomas Dowd earned a double-double with 18 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks. Fields also had a big night, knocking down 5-of-8 three-pointers to tally 21 points, six rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks. Cross called Dowd and Fields two of the toughest players he’s ever coached.

“I’m so thankful, give all the glory to God,” said Cross. “The way these guys battled, I’m very proud. Like I said, (Fields and Dowd) are two of the toughest guys I’ve ever been around. It was a really, really gritty game. We won because our guys were so locked in defensively.

“Our guys were so locked in, it’s one of the best defensive performances, I think all year. We’re playing some of our toughest, best basketball at the right time.”

Tayton Conerway also had a big night for Troy with 22 points and four assists. Mark Freeman led JMU with 34 points. Freeman knocked down 12-of-19 field goal attempts, while the entire rest of the Duke team converted just 8-of-43 shot attempts.

Things won’t get any easier for Troy as the Trojans will face off against Arkansas State in the conference finals on Monday. Troy and Arkansas State met twice during the regular season with the Trojans losing the first game at home 84-78 and then winning the second game, on the road, by a score of 71-70 on Feb. 15. The Sun Belt Championship will air at 6 p.m. on ESPN2.