Conor Merrick | News Editor | cpm2022@jagmail.southalabama.edu
Photo by: Michael Dunn | Photography
An excited crowd of 4,146 came to see the men’s basketball team steamroll Troy at the Mitchell Center
This is the Jaguar’s seventh victory in a row against Troy’s Trojans and their 28th win against them overall. The historic game against South’s rival ended with a score of 82-63, according to USAJaguars.com. It’s also the second-largest victory margin against Troy in school history, the highest being 70-43 back in 1995, the game recap notes.
The electric crowd cheered on the Jaguars in numbers that haven’t been seen at the Mitchell stadium for over two years and even received praise from Jaguar’s head coach Richie Riley for being such a great crowd and helping the team find the energy to keep their lead.
“It was the biggest crowd we’ve had since the Auburn game a couple of years ago and it was an awesome atmosphere,” coach Riley told The Vanguard. “Our students showed up and they were loud and it made a huge difference in our game…It’s hard to explain the amount of energy it brings your team and it’s just a really cool thing and it’s something I’m hopeful we can create with consistency.”
Students at the stadium had an exciting night, according to freshman Julius Zimlich.
“The South vs. Troy game was fantastic! South played great and it was amazing to see the interaction from the band, cheer squad and the fans around me,” Zimlich said. “You could feel the Jag pride in the air. Plus, filling the student section meant that we all got coupons for free pizza!”
Jay Jay Chandler, a guard for the Jaguars, scored 26 points throughout the game, setting a new season-high for himself.
All of the players played their hearts out, coming back from a 6 point deficit in the first half and finishing off with back-to-back three-pointers from Kayo Goncalves and three-pointer from Duke Miles.
Coach Riley also extended a “huge thank you to our students and staff” as well as everyone else that came to support the team. He says it made a huge difference in the way they played and would love to see “every single one of you” come back for the upcoming home game against Arkansas Little Rock’s Trojans on Feb. 10.
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