Men's Basketball Sun Belt Conference

Troy Beats UTA in FIrst Upset of Tournament

PENSACOLA, Fla. - Entering the Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Championships, the Troy University Trojans had gone nearly a month without tasting victory. At the Bay Center on Friday night, that all changed. 

Troy (11-16) jumped on top early, and with four of its five starters scoring in double-figures, it used a balanced offense to upset the UTA Mavericks (13-13) in the final game of the first round, 91-86. The win was the first upset of the tournament and Troy's first SBC tournament victory since 2018.

Troy scored the first five points of the game, including a layup from Duke Miles that ignited a career night from him. The Freshman out of Montgomery, Alabama’s Robert E. Lee High School scored a game-high and personal-best 26 points on 8-for-11 shooting from the floor and 10-of-12 from the frree throw line. He added nine assists, five reboiunds and four steals. 

The Mavericks answered with five quick points of their own, but Troy used a quick 7-2 run to grab a 12-7 lead and remained in front the remainder of the first half. Up 22-19 with 8:03 to play in the half, Troy used a near five-minute, 10-0 run to extend its lead to 13 points, 32-19. UTA scored 12 of the final 19 points in the first stanza, but the Trojans carried a 39-32 lead into the locker room.

Troy stretched its lead to 50-35 at the 16:04 mark in the second half, and over the next 11 minutes, the advantage dipped into single digits only once. Troy led by as many as 16 at 70-54 after a 3-pointer from Khalyl Waters with 7:50 left in the game. UTA usesd an 8-0 run, with David Azore scoring five points, to cut into the lead, 70-62, but Troy later put together its own 8-0 run to secure the win. 

Miles was joined in double figures by three of his teammates. Desmond Williams poured in 20 and grabbed seven rebounds, and Waters and Mick Stampley each put up double-doubles in the game. Waters scored 17 points, and Stampley added 10, and they each reeled in 10 boards as Troy out-rebounded UTA, 47-34.

Azore led the Mavericks with 21 points with 11 of those coming at the free throw line. Shahada Wells scored 19 in the game, Jordan Phillips tacked on 11 as the only bench player for either team to reach double-figures, and Patrick Mwamba tallied 10. Mwamba also grabbed a team-leading eight rebounds before he fouled out of the game. 

The Trojans advance to the SBC Quarterfinals as the only No. 6 seed remaining and will meet the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (15-6) Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in Pensacola State College's Hartsell Arena.