もうこうするしかないと、半ば諦めてのことだ。

[thetazuo]

足を止めて振り返り、ツッコミを入れた。
もうこうするしかないと、半ば諦めてのことだ。

A girl was chasing and shouting "Stop!" in a strange tone to the protagonist, who was trying to shake off the girl. Finally, the protagonist stopped and ridicule the girl.

Hi. How should I understand the underlined sentence, especially the function of the bold と?
My try:
Since I almost gave up, I could only do so.

よろしくお願いします。

 

[SoLaTiDoberman]

もうこうするしかないと、半ば諦めてのことだ。
=「もう、足を止めて振り返り、ツッコミを入れるしかない」、と半ば諦めて、足を止めて振り返り、ツッコミを入れたのだ。
=「もう、足を止めて振り返り、ツッコミを入れるしかない」、と判断して、（つまり）半ば逃げ切ることを諦めて、足を止めて振り返り、ツッコミを入れたのだ。


He did it almost giving up running away from her, deciding that there were no other options.

He did it because he thought that there were no other options. In other words, he almost gave up running away from her.

I think your translation is more or less correct.

 

[thetazuo]

Thank you very much. I see.