TOWSON, Md. - Sophomore guard RaShawn Polk scored a game high 17 points, including a clutch three-point basket with 17 seconds remaining in overtime, as the Tigers (7-18, 4-11) rallied from a ten-point deficit in the first half to pull out a 74-69 victory over Georgia State (10-17, 4-11) in a Colonial Athletic Association game in the Towson Center on Saturday afternoon.
Polk, who shot 7-for-13 from the floor and made two of three three-pointers, snapped a 69-69 tie when he took a pass from senior Calvin Lee and nailed a three-pointer, giving the Tigers a lead they never relinquished.
After sophomore guard Jihad Ali of Georgia State missed a three-pointer, junior Robert Nwankwo grabbed the rebound. Moments later, sophomore guard Troy Franklin was fouled. With one second remaining, he nailed down the victory by hitting a pair of free throws.
Playing their second overtime game of the season, the Tigers had opened the extra period by taking a 69-65 lead on back-to-back fast break layups by junior guard Josh Brown. Georgia State rallied and tied the game for the 12th time on a layup by senior forward Ousman Krubally off a nifty pass by junior guard Marques Johnson with 2:16 remaining.
With 49 seconds left, sophomore guard James Fields misfired on a jumper and Nwankwo grabbed the rebound, setting up Polk's decisive three-point basket.
"Obviously, this is a very good win for us," said Towson Coach Pat Kennedy. "Georgia State has some very good weapons and that's a senior-laden team. They're trying to get ready for the tournament just like we are.
"We got off to a slow start," Kennedy admitted. "Josh (Thornton) didn't practice yesterday and we didn't have Jarrel (Smith) for the second game in a row. We went with a smaller group and our guys answered tremendously. Late in the game, we got some big plays from Robert, Josh and RaShawn."
In the final minutes of regulation, the Tigers overcame a 61-58 deficit and nearly pulled out the win. Trailing by 61-58 with 1:38 remaining, freshman forward Isaiah Philmore was fouled on a driving layup attempt. He connected on one of two free throws to pull the Tigers to within 61-59.
The Tigers got the ball back eight seconds later when the defensive pressure of Franklin forced a turnover by senior guard Joe Dukes.
The Tigers cashed in on the break moments later when Franklin scored the tying basket on a floating jumper in the lane with 1:17 remaining.
When Nwankwo rebounded a missed three-point shot by Johnson, the Tigers had a chance to take the lead. Polk put Towson ahead when he drilled a 14-foot jumper from the right side with 12.9 seconds remaining, giving Towson a 63-61 lead.
The Panthers had a chance to tie the game with 4.9 seconds left when Krubally was fouled on an inside layup attempt by Polk. Although the Tigers took a pair of time outs in an effort to rattle Krubally, the 6-6 forward calmly sank both free throws to tie the game at 63-63.
When Franklin's driving floater in the lane bounced off the rim, the game went to overtime.
"I was very proud of what we did on the defensive end because I told our guys we were going to have to win this game with defense and we certainly did in the overtime," added Kennedy. "It was great for us to come out of this game with a win after some of the close games we've played."
The Panthers, who beat Towson by 70-61 in Atlanta last month, raced to a 13-4 lead in the first six minutes of the game and maintained their advantage throughout the first half. Georgia State owned a 25-15 lead with 8:18 left in the half before Towson started chipping away at the lead.
After the Tigers pulled to within 33-31 with 30 seconds left before halftime, senior Kevin Lott nailed a three-pointer with five seconds left to give Georgia State a 36-31 advantage at intermission.
Led by senior forward Trey Hampton and senior guard Trae Goldston, who scored nine points each, the Panthers shot 53.6 per cent from the floor in the first half.
In the second half, the Tigers turned up the defensive pressure and held Georgia State to 39.1 shooting as they rallied to get back into the game.
Towson scored the first six points of the second half to assume a 37-36 lead with 17:24 remaining. With 12:01 remaining, Polk's layup gave the Tigers their largest lead of the game at 48-43.
Over the last 6:53 of regulation, the score was tied six times before the teams went to overtime.
Goldston led the balanced Panthers' attack with 12 points while Krubally added 11 points. Ali scored 10 points while Hampton added nine points, all in the first half.
Led by Brown, the Tigers' defense forced 19 turnovers which led to 25 points.
While Polk led the Tigers with 17 points, three other Tigers scored in double figures. Brown shot five-for-seven from the floor with three steals as he scored a seasonal high 15 points. Philmore added a career high 13 points with four steals as he made seven of eight free throw attempts.
Nwankwo shot four-for-six from the floor as he posted his seventh "double double" of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds. The leading shot blocker in the CAA, he had five blocks against the Panthers, increasing his season total to 71 blocked shots in 21 games.
With the victory, Towson moved into a tie for ninth place in the CAA standings with Georgia State. With three CAA games remaining, both teams have 4-11 records.
The Tigers return to action on Tuesday, February 16 when they face CAA-leading Old Dominion in Norfolk.
