LAFAYETTE, La. (AP)—Jerome Odem and Brandon Hazzard had 16 points each and Troy erased a nine-point halftime deficit to upset Louisiana-Lafayette 70-60 in the first round of the Sun Belt Conference tournament.
Troy (12-18) the tournament’s 12th seed, plays No. 4 seed Middle Tennessee on Sunday in Mobile, Ala.
Chris Gradnigo had 20 points for ULL (15-15). Randell Daigle added 16 and La’Ryan Gary had 11 points and eight rebounds.
ULL led 35-26 at halftime, but was outscored 21-8 at the start of the second half. The Trojans took their first lead since the game’s opening minute when Justin Jonus hit a 3-point shot from the left wing to go ahead 45-43 with 10:47 left.
They led the rest of the way, though Gradnigo cut the deficit to 51-49 on a 3-point shot.
Troy shot nearly 64 percent (14-of-22) from the floor in the second half.
Jonus finished with 14 points and Michael Vogler added 13 for Troy.
