The 2014-15 Towson men's basketball team started this season at 7-1. That was the best start in the school's Division I history. It was also the best start of any Tiger basketball team since the 1976-77 team that began the season 25-1. That team started the season winning its first two games in the Schaefer Metro Classic beating UMBC and the University of Baltimore. Those Tigers lost in the championship game to Coppin State but did not lose again for 23 games.

Going into the 1976-77 season, the Tigers were coming off a 19-10 mark the year before. Head Coach Vince Angotti was the winningest in school history. 
"We knew we were talented coming into the year," he said. "It was just a matter of getting it done on the court." 

A look back at that team is like a who's who of Towson greats. Up front you had Pat McKinley, Bobby Washington and Brian Matthews. In the backcourt were Roger Dickens and Savia Sharp - all from the state of Maryland. McKinley, Mattews and Dickens were from Baltimore. Washington was from Suitland, and Sharp was from the Eastern Shore.

"Nobody was recruiting Baltimore in the mid-'70s, so all the local schools were getting great talent" said Angotti. 

The local battles were riveting. The Tigers played the University of Baltimore five times that season. At one time, UB was number one in the country. The Tigers beat them and moved from third nationally to first. This was Division II basketball being played at a Division I level. You have to remember, back then there were not 351 DI schools. The mass exodus didn't come for a couple of seasons yet.

Many don't remember that the University of Baltimore had an athletic department. Frank Szymanski coached the basketball teams. The battles between UB and TU that season were legendary. 

Angotti said, "Every guy on that court for both teams knew each other. They had been playing against one another for years."  

Five times they played each other. Towson won four, but even though the Tigers dominated in the win column, the scores were much closer. The scores of those games were 74-73 Towson, 67-66 Towson, 68-65 Towson, 100-96 UB, and 92-87 Towson. That last meeting gave the Tigers a berth in the South Regional in the NCAA tournament.

Angotti remembers vividly how the season began.  In the late '60s the NCAA instituted what was known as the "Alcindor rule." Named after UCLA great Lew Alcindor, the rule banned dunking the basketball.  Prior to the '76-'77 season, the NCAA rescinded it.

The Tigers opened that year at UMBC.

" We lost the opening tap," remembered Angotti. "UMBC goes down court and misses [its] first shot.  Pat McKinley grabs the rebound and throws it down court to Brian Matthews. Matthews goes in with a power slam dunk, and the crowd was just stunned. Nobody had seen a dunk in college basketball in years, and here it was our first offensive possession and Matthews slammed it home."

Angotti said that practice with this team was something to see. 

"Every guy on that team could dunk it. I saw more 360 [degree] dunks and crazy slams before they started showing them all on TV." 

Angotti and former Towson Sports Information Director Pete Schlehr both still talk in amazement at how high Pat McKinley could jump. Pat is still the Tigers' second-leading scorer with 1832 career points and the Tigers all-time leading rebounder with 1421 rebounds. He also blocked 229 shots. McKinley was drafted by the Washington Bullets in 1977.

Brian Matthews is the Tigers fourth all-time leading scorer with 1665 points. He also had 1062 rebounds.  Angotti says that Matthews was one of the best outside shooters he ever saw. You also have to remember that there was no three-point shot during his career.

Bobby Washington is the Tigers ninth all-time leading scorer with 1437 points and just missed getting 1000 rebounds in his career.

Roger Dickens is the only JC transfer (Baltimore City Junior College) in school history to score 1000 points, and he did it in just two seasons. He finished with 1057 and also had 299 assists. Dickens was drafted by the Washington Bullets after the 1977-78 season.

This Tiger team was phenomenal. Angotti said when the Tigers were set to play the University of Baltimore in the second round of the NCAA tournament at the Towson Center, then Towson AD Dr. Tom Meinhart came up to him and said they had to delay the start of the game. When the coach said why, Meinhart told him there were cars backed up to Charles Street. It was the first sell-out in Towson Center history.

The 1976-77 season came to an end in the third round of the NCAA tournament when the Tigers lost to Sacred Heart, 85-82. Angotti bemoans his team, which was number one in the country, had to play Sacred Heart at Yale, which was just miles from the Sacred Heart campus. Schlehr points out it was the only game Roger Dickens fouled out of in his Towson career. Many think that wasn't a coincidence.  It's a team many of us remember fondly, and it jogged the memory when this year's Tiger basketball team got off to that great start.

Don't forget the Tigers are in action this Saturday against LaSalle. Game time is 7 p.m. at SECU Arena.  Hope you can make it out. Tickets are available right here on TowsonTigers.com or by calling 1-855 TU-Tiger. If you can't make it, you can watch the game here on TowsonTigers.com with the aforementioned Vince Angotti and me on the call or you can tune in to CBS Sports Radio 1300.

I'll be taking the next couple of weeks off from this blog. I want to thank everyone for reading and wish the best to you and your families during this holiday season.
GO TIGERS!!!!