PHILADELPHIA – Trailing most of the game, the Towson men's basketball team rallied late in the second half to take a one-point lead in its first game of the 2015-16. But a late layup and a pair of free throws lifted host La Salle to a 78-76 win at Tom Gola Arena Saturday afternoon.
 
How It Happened

• The Tigers (0-1) took their first lead of the game, 71-70, with 4:22 left in regulation as sophomore Mike Morsell rolled in a layup.
• La Salle (1-0) recaptured the lead on a Cleon Roberts three-pointer with just over three minutes to go. The Tigers drew even again on a Timajh Parker-Rivera layup. But a steal by Explorer Johnnie Shuler, followed by a run-out layup and two free throws, put La Salle up 77-73.
• Shuler hit one more free throw for a five-point lead, but Towson guard Byron Hawkins drilled a three-pointer with half a second on the clock to make it a one-score game.
• Towson's Walter Foster nearly picked off the inbound pass at midcourt, but the clock expired just before a shot could get off.
• Five minutes into the game, the score was knotted at 10-10, but behind a crowd of 3,400, La Salle ran out to a 10-point, 27-17 lead over the next five minutes, thanks to a 19-7 run.
• The teams traded blows back and forth before Towson began chipping away at the lead, getting back within three points on a John Davis layup. In his first game with the Tigers, Arnaud William Adala Moto was a big part of that run, putting up 10 of his 28 points in a six minute window.
• After La Salle's last-second basketball was ruled no good due to a clock malfunction, the Explorers took a six-point, 45-39 lead into halftime.
• Adala Moto, who was selected Honorable Mention Preseason All-Colonial Athletic Association (CAA), was the game's second-leading scorer at the break with 16, one behind Preseason All-Atlantic 10 First Team selection Jordan Price.
• Towson whittled away at the Explorer advantage over the first six minutes of the second half, pulling within one on two occasions.
• La Salle, which had several players in foul trouble throughout the game, built back to an eight-point lead, 70-62, with 8:33 left in the game. Over the next five minutes, Towson went on a 9-0 run to take the lead with 4:22 on the clock.
• The Explorers limited Towson to just five more points in the remainder of the game to hold on for the win.

Behind the Numbers

• Adala Moto finished with a game-high 28 points, the most points in a season-opening game for a Tiger in the Pat Skerry Era (2011-12), topping Jerrelle Benimon's mark of 23 in the 2012-13 opener.
• Second-chance points were big for the Tigers as Towson finished with 19 offensive boards, leading to 20 second chance points. Towson out-rebounded the Explorers 45-32. Both teams snared 26 defensive rebounds.
• Towson finished with 16 assists, paced by five from Morsell and another four from Hawkins. The Tigers had just 11 turnovers in the game. The Explorers had 17 points on those turnovers.
• Both sides hit the free throw line plenty as Towson went 23-of-33, while La Salle hit 25 of its 30 tries. Adala Moto got 11 of his points at the line.
• Towson knocked down 12 of its 26 field goal attempts in the second half (46.2 percent) while holding La Salle to nine of 25 shooting in the second half. Conversely, the Explorers hit 48 percent (13-of-27) in the first half while Towson managed to hit 11-of-35.

Up Next for the Tigers

• The Tigers host Morgan State at SECU Arena Monday night for the first home game of the 2015-16 season.
• The Battle for Greater Baltimore tips off between the local foes at 7 p.m.
• Towson won last season's meeting 51-46 at the Hill Field House at Morgan State.

Towson Head Coach Pat Skerry
Opening Statement
Good game, good atmosphere. We fell a little short but give La Salle credit. We thought they'd go small, their small ball is tough to guard. We finally got back to guarding and rebounding like we normally have the last three years. (Jordan) Price is a handful. They're so much more perimeter-minded and they can spread you out.
 
I liked out effort. There are no moral victories. I don't think I did a good enough job down the stretch. As I told our guys, I think we've got a chance to be good. The last four weeks we've only had 30 minutes where we've had our whole team for practice. We've kept it quiet, but John Davis has been in a boot for the last four weeks and he was cleared on Thursday and Friday for 30 minutes of practice as we try to get him back to speed.
 
On Arnaud William Adala Moto
Well I'm glad he's at Towson. Really impressive in a hostile environment against a very good Atlantic 10 team, coming off of a year off. I'm not surprised though. We saw it a lot, he's worked his tail off … I'm going to give him a hard time about it tomorrow, but we had two scrimmages against Richmond and Duquense, and he was decent but we felt as a staff that he physically impacted the game. He rebounded it, shooting, driving, posting… If he does that, which I think he will, I think we have a chance to be pretty good in our league.
 
- TowsonTigers.com -