Box Score

TROY, Ala. – Eastern Kentucky University was down one with eight minutes left in the game, but Troy scored 23 points in the final seven and a half to pull ahead for an 84-74 victory on Sunday.
 
The Colonels (4-4) fell behind by eight, 44-36, early in the second half before beginning to claw back.  Four straight by EKU cut the deficit in half.  A steal and leaning jumper in the paint from Mayar Wol with 10:44 on the clock had the visitors within three, 53-50.  Turner Buttry's 3-pointer from the left corner with 9:17 to go made it a 2-point game, 57-55.  A three from the right wing by Jackson Holt got the Colonels within one, 61-60, with 8:01 remaining.
 
From that point, the Trojans (5-3) scored eight straight to begin a 14-4 run.  Jerrell Bellamy started it with a layup.  Tayton Conerway's layup made it 69-60.  Cooper Campbell capped the run with a 3-ponter for an 11-point advantage, 75-64, with just 5:13 left in the game.
 
After having scored 20 points in the first 12:29 of the second half, Troy scored 23 over the final 7:31.  The Trojans shot 67 percent in the second half (14-for-21) and 58 percent for the game.  A team that had only made 29.9 percent of its 3-point attempts this season coming into the game, finished 8-for-17 (47 percent) from behind the arc.
 
EKU shot 47 percent from the field for the game, but was just 4-for-22 (18 percent) from 3-point range.
 
Devontae Blanton and George Kimble III finished with 14 points each.  Kimble had five assists, four rebounds and four steals.  Buttry contributed 12 points off the bench, going 3-for-3 from the field and 5-for-5 at the free throw line.
 
Marcus Rigsby Jr. led all players with 20 points, hitting 8-of-11 from the field for Troy.  Bellamy finished with 18 points and five rebounds off the bench.
 
The Colonels committed nine fewer turnovers than the Trojans (19-10) but Troy out-rebounded EKU 34-23.
 
The Colonels closed a 9-point first half deficit to four on two occasions.  After the Trojans took a 30-21 lead on two free throws from Thomas Dowd, EKU scored six of the next seven.  Kimble made it a 31-27 game on a layup with 5:03 on the clock.  DJ Nussbaum's layup kept the margin at four, 33-29 with less than four minutes to play before intermission.  Two free throws from Blanton with 31 seconds remaining in the opening period sent the Colonels to the locker room down five, 41-36.
 
Rigsby's 3-pointer at the 18:34 mark of the second half pushed the home team in front by eight, 44-36.
 
The Colonels will host Campbellsville-Harrodsburg at the Seabury Center in Berea, Kentucky on Friday.  Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.