Bobcats Conquer the Trojans On Their Way To A Historic Victory

By Jude McClaren
Sports Reporter

The Bobcat men’s basketball team traveled to Alabama this Thursday where they took on the struggling Troy Trojans who have now gone 1-8 in their last nine games. While Troy has been experiencing a lot of negatives lately, it has been exactly the opposite for the Bobcats, who sit atop the Sun Belt Conference. It was no different when the two teams matched up; after an early test from Troy, the Bobcats embodied their “takers” nickname and took the lead and never lost it on the way to a 58-44 throttle of the Trojans.

One of the ways the Bobcats were able to get back in the game after Troy’s early game momentum was through not one, but two 8-0 runs. The Bobcats continued dominated Troy for the rest of the game, mainly on the back of guard duo Nijal Pearson and Mason Harrell. Pearson’s most dominant moment (which very well may have ended the game early) was when he connected on three three-pointers on three straight possessions, giving himself his 16th game of the year where he has hit three or more three-pointers, and gave his team a 9-0 run. Pearson couldn’t do it all on his own though, and with veteran guards Tre Nottingham recovering from the flu, and Jaylen Shead momentarily exiting the game with a leg injury, true freshman Mason Harrell came through for the ‘Cats as he scored a career high 14 points on an efficient 66 percent field goal percentage. On top of this, the Bobcats played stellar defense the entire game considering that the Trojans average over 70 points per game, yet were held to just 44.

This “W” marks the Bobcats 23rd win of the season, which is the first time the program has reached this amount of wins in Division I men’s NCAA basketball, making this season arguably the best in program history. The Bobcats are still first place in the Sun Belt Conference, with Georgia State and Georgia Southern following close behind by just one game on the road to the Sun Belt Championship in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Bobcats will be staying in Alabama this weekend as they take on the South Alabama Jaguars Saturday at 7 p.m. in Mobile. Make sure to catch all the action on KTSW 89.9.

Featured image courtesy of Texas State Athletics.