Championship Central

PENSACOLA, Fla. – Arkansas State and Troy secured semifinal wins and will meet in the 2025 Sun Belt Conference Men’s Basketball Championship Game on Monday, March 10 at the Pensacola Bay Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT, and the game will be televised on ESPN2.

In the final round of a season trilogy between Sun Belt regular season co-champions, No. 4 seed Arkansas State outlasted top-seeded South Alabama, 74-71, to earn its second-straight title game appearance. The Red Wolves’ last won the Sun Belt crown in 1999.

The No. 3 seed, regular season co-champion Troy never trailed in a 79-60 win over reigning champion and second-seeded James Madison. The Trojans’ last Sun Belt tournament title came in 2017.
 
During two regular season meetings, each team earned a road win over the other with Arkansas State earning an 84-78 win at Troy on Jan. 11, before the Trojans exacted revenge, 71-70, in Jonesboro, Ark., on Feb. 15.

Game 11: (4) Arkansas State def. (1) South Alabama, 74-71 (Box Score)
Junior guard Joseph Pinion led four Arkansas State scorers in double-figures with 23 points, six rebounds and five assists with five 3-pointers made, as graduate forward Kobe Julien added 14 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals.
 
Arkansas State found early offense beyond the 3-point line, making four of their first eight attempts, while South Alabama did its damage inside to create its largest lead of the first half, 18-13, with 12:44 to go.
 
The Red Wolves made eight 3-pointers in the first half, four of which came from Pinion, with the last coming off his hand from straightaway before the halftime buzzer sounded for a 37-34 lead. The Jaguars scored 30 of their 34 first-half points in the paint or at the free throw line.
 
The second half featured seven lead changes and four ties across the first 11 minutes. South Alabama tied the game at 53 on a layup by senior forward Elijah Ormiston, but Arkansas State countered with seven of the next nine points – capped by Pinion’s fifth trey of the game with 6:56 remaining.
 
South Alabama pulled back within one, 60-59, on an Ormiston basket with 3:38 to go, but a 3-pointer by redshirt sophomore guard Terrance Ford Jr. on the next possession extended the Red Wolves’ lead once more, and the Jaguars never drew closer from that point.
 
All-Sun Belt First Team selection and junior forward Barry Dunning Jr. led all players with 27 points, 13 rebounds and three steals, as Ormiston added 21 points and nine boards for South Alabama.

Game 12: (3) Troy def. (2) James Madison, 79-60 (Box Score)
Troy senior guard and Sun Belt Player of the Year Tayton Conerway scored 22 points, junior forward Jackson Fields poured in 21 more with five 3-pointers and sophomore forward Thomas Dowd recorded a double-double with 18 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks.
 
Troy scored the game’s first 11 points, capped by back-to-back 3-pointers from Fields and Dowd. The Trojans built a 19-5 advantage on a fast break layup by Fields at the 13:21 mark, before James Madison settled in with a 10-0 scoring run capped by a layup from redshirt senior guard Noah Williams to trim the deficit to four with 9:46 left in the first half.
 
Conerway buried a deep 3-pointer from the right wing to grow Troy’s margin back to double-digits, 30-20, as part of a 16-3 run to close the half to carry a 40-23 lead into halftime.
 
Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year Mark Freeman caught fire midway through the second half, scoring 16 of the Dukes’ 19 points during an offensive surge cutting their deficit to seven, 57-50, with 6:55 remaining in the game.
 
However, the Trojans punched back with an 11-1 run, highlighted by a three-point play by Conerway with 4:30 to go, extending the advantage to 68-51. The margin widened to as many as 23 in favor of Troy in the final minutes before arriving at the 19-point victory.
 
Freeman scored a tournament-high 34 points on 12-for-19 shooting with six 3-pointers for James Madison.

2025 Sun Belt Conference Men’s Basketball Championship

Tuesday, March 4
Game 1 – (12) Southern Miss def. (13) Coastal Carolina, 66-63
Game 2 – (11) Louisiana def. (14) ULM, 73-69 (OT)

Wednesday, March 5
Game 3 – (9) Georgia Southern def. (12) Southern Miss, 78-64
Game 4 – (10) Old Dominion def. (11) Louisiana, 67-49

Thursday, March 6
Game 5 – (8) Georgia State def. (9) Georgia Southern, 80-71
Game 6 – (10) Old Dominion def. (7) Texas State 64-61

Friday, March 7
Game 7 – (5) Marshall def. (8) Georgia State, 79-76
Game 8 – (10) Old Dominion def. (6) App State, 61-56

Saturday, March 8
Game 9 – (4) Arkansas State def. (5) Marshall, 77-74
Game 10 – (3) Troy def. (10) Old Dominion, 75-59

Sunday, March 9
Game 11 – (4) Arkansas State def. (1) South Alabama, 74-71
Game 12 – (3) Troy def. (2) James Madison, 79-60

Monday, March 10 (Championship)
Game 13 – (3) Troy vs. (4) Arkansas State – 6 p.m. CT [ESPN2]