PHILADELPHIA, Pa. ? The Tigers had hoped to leave the Palestra with at least one victory in the Philly Hoop Group Classic but when the slate of opponents included Big East beast Villanova and a hot Penn State five out of the Big Ten the task was huge. The 20th-ranked Wildcats tagged Towson with a loss Friday night. On Saturday the Nittany Lions ended Towson's hopes for a classic victory when they downed the Tigers 78-54.
The loss evened Towson's record to 3-3. Penn State improved to 6-1 with its only setback a 77-72 defeat to Rhode Island last night.
The Tigers got off to a slow start offensively and had no answers for the Nittany Lions' hot hand that produced 52 per cent shooting efficiency from the field in the first half. Before long Penn State had run to a 15-point lead, 26-11, at the 8:21 mark.
Towson rallied and cut the lead to eight, 32-24, on a Troy Franklin three-pointer. That was as close as Towson would come to Penn State the rest of the way. The Nittany Lions quickly ran up the score again, closing the half with an 8-0 run to take a 40-24 lead at the break.
The situation continued to deteriorate for Towson in the second half. Penn State built its largest lead, 33 points (78-45) then didn't score again for the remaining four minutes of the contest. But the damage had been done.
“We had exactly zero gas in our tank tonight,” said Towson head coach Pat Kennedy. “We had no pressure on the ball. I don't think Penn State even broke a sweat.”
It wasn't a case of the Tigers not having the shots. They attempted 68 field goals to 60 for Penn State but only 20 of them dropped through the hoop to account for 29 per cent shooting mark. The Nittany Lions shot 48 per cent after Penn State's bench missed the last five shots of the game.
Franklin paced the Tigers with a team high 12 points. He was the only Towson player in double figures. Junior Hairston led Towson's effort off the boards with eight rebounds. He also had a game high three blocks.
Penn State was led by its flashy guard tandem of Stanley Pringle with a game high 16 points and Talor Battle who chipped in 15 points, nine assists and eight rebounds.
Towson is back in action this Wednesday night when the Tigers make the short trip around the Baltimore Beltway to visit the UMBC Retrievers. The game will be televised by MASN and carried live on WBAL (1090 AM) Radio. Tip off is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
