Troy held off South Alabama 83-79 at Trojan Arena on Saturday, earning a split of the season series with their in-state Sun Belt Conference rivals.

With the win, the Trojans improve to 13-8 overall and 7-2 in Sun Belt Conference play. The victory was Troy’s 12th in 13 home games this season, a program record for wins at Trojan Arena.

The Jaguars fall to 10-11, 3-6 in the Sun Belt. South Alabama beat Troy 74-71 in Mobile on Jan. 18, but never led Saturday after the 15-minute mark of the first half.

Aamer Muhammad scored 23 points and grabbed a team-best eight rebounds to lead Troy, knocking down a massive 3-pointer to salt the game away with 36 seconds left after South Alabama had cut the lead to four. Myles Rigsby added 21 points for the Trojans, while Christyon Eugene had 11.

With James Madison’s loss to Appalachian State on Saturday, Troy took over sole possession of second place in the Sun Belt standings. The Mountaineers lead the way at 8-1 in league play, one game ahead of the Trojans.

Tyrell Jones scored 19 points to lead South Alabama, which lost its third straight game despite making 11 3-pointers in the game. Thomas Howell added 18 points before fouling out in the final three minutes, while freshman Marcus Millender had 16 and Elijah Ormiston 15.

Isiah Gaiter, South Alabama’s leading scorer coming in at better than 17 points per game, scored just two points on 1-for-12 shooting. Samuel Tabe, averaging more than 10 points per game before Saturday, was held scoreless.

Troy built a 10-point lead in the final eight minutes, but South Alabama chiseled it down to three at 66-63 after Howell hit a 3-pointer with 6:01 remaining. However, Muhammad nailed his own triple on the other end to put the Trojans back up by two scores.

South Alabama got the deficit down to three again after a 3-point play by Jones with 1:19 left, but Rigsby hit a pair of free throws to make it 77-72 with 1:06 left. After Millender made 1 of 2 on the other end, Muhammad’s last 3-pointer put the game out of reach at 80-73.

South Alabama stays on the road at Texas State on Thursday, while Troy is also away from home the same day at Georgia Southern.