RALEIGH, N.C. ? The Tigers stunned Nortlh Carolina State with an early 11-point lead but after the shock wore off the Wolfpack regrjouped and went on to hand Towson an 88-68 loss Wednesday afternoon in the RBC Center.
The loss dropped the Tigers' record to 5-8 on the season while the Wolfpack improved to 9-2. It was the last of a four-game road swing for the Tigers who return home to the Towson Center Saturday night to host James Madison at 7:00 p.m.
Josh Thornton shot the Tigers into the early 11-point lead (18-7) by burying several three-pointers. He hit four of them in the first seven minutes to help the Tigers maintain a double digit lead.
But the Wolfpack chipped away at Towson's lead, mostly from the free throw line where Tracy Smith and Brandon Costner were making a living. They sank 13 of 14 attempts between them in the first half. N.C. State would finish the contest 26 of 32 from the charity stripe.
Near the end of the opening period when the Wolfpack was closing in, the Tigers went cold. Robert Nwankwo's layup with 3:02 left gave Towson a 41-38 lead but those were the last points of the half for the Tigers. The Wolfpack finished with an 8-0 run to take a 46-41 lead at the break.
Towson hung with the Wolfpack for the first seven minutes of the second half, closing the gap to four points, 58-54. But N.C. State's stepped up pressure on defense and effective execution on offense (Wolfpack shot 60 per cent from the field in the second half), proved to be the Tigers' undoing. By the 8:00 mark the Wolfpack had built a 14-point lead.
“We played extremely well in the first half, but had a few miscues at the end of the half,” Towson Coach Pat Kennedy said. “Our kids played extremely hard, but they came out and picked us apart in the second half. “The final score was not indicative of how hard or how well we played today.”.
Thornton and Jarrel Smith paced the Tigers in the loss by scoring 22 and 20 points, respectively. Thornton matched a season high by nailing six three-point baskets and was 7-for-14 from the field overall. Meanwhile, Smith was 6 of 13 from the field and tallied his second straight “double double” with a team-high 11 rebounds.
However, the Tigers were unable to find an answer for N.C..State's Smith, who entered the game averaging 8.2 points per game. He had a career day, torching the Tigers for 31 points on 10-for-15 shooting from the field and an 11-11 effort at the foul line. Costner finished with a double-double with 15 points and 10 assists while three other Wolfpack players scored in double figures.
