TOWSON, Md. – A balanced, determined and fierce Towson University men's basketball team provided plenty of pyrotechnics during an 88-47 victory over Rio Grande in a non-conference contest at SECU Arena Sunday afternoon.
 
Twinkling the scoreboard like a Christmas lights display, the Tigers (8-4) had a blast in their penultimate non-conference contest by tying their season-high point total, placing five players in double figures, getting double-doubles from William Adala Moto and Walter Foster, holding Rio Grande 38 points below its season average and sharing the wealth as every player in uniform hit the scoring column for Towson.
 

How It Happened

• Towson never trailed and led by at least 20 points during the entire second half.
• Towson led by double figures for the final 31 minutes.
• The Tigers allowed eight points over the final 11 minutes.
• Making his first career start, Jordan McNeil opened each half with a layup, which set the tone for Towson's 42 paint points.
• Towson made seven of its first 10 shots.
• Byron Hawkins scored 11 of his team-high tying 13 points in the first 10 minutes.
• The Tigers' first three baskets of the game were strong drives to the basket that ended with layups.
• Mike Morsell made his first four field goal attempts including a 3-pointer that helped Towson open a 27-13 lead with 10:45 remaining.
• Towson opened some distance with a 10-4 burst to open a 37-17 bulge following Adala Moto's layup with 6:36 remaining.
• Towson held its largest halftime advantage of the season, 45-25.
• John Davis scored six of Towson's first 10 points in the opening three minutes of the second half.
• Walter Foster highlighted a 13-0 Towson second half burst with a vicious one-handed dunk.
• Foster, who was 4-for-4 from the field, also started Towson's 28-8 finishing burst with an offensive rebound and basket.
• Josh Ivory made his only 3-pointer of the game off of a pass from Eddie Keith II that gave Towson a 79-41 lead.
• Alex Thomas took a charge late in the second half with the Tigers leading by 28 points.

Inside the Numbers

• The Tigers had five players reach double figures in a game for the fourth time this season.
• Each player in uniform for Towson played at least 12 minutes.
• Hawkins reached double figures for the 18th time in his career and his third straight game.
• Davis tallied double digits in scoring for 28th time in his career and the fifth time in Towson's last six games.
• It was the second double-double of the season for Adala Moto (12 points, 11 rebounds) and Foster (11 points, 10 rebounds).
• Foster has five career double-doubles.
• With his 11 points, Morsell reached double digits for the 16th time in his career and fourth time in his last five games.
• Towson collected a season-high 17 steals.
• Nine of the 10 Tigers that dressed had at least one steal.
• This was the fourth time in Towson's last five games that its defense held a team below 40 percent shooting. Rio Grande shot 30.2 percent from the field.
• Towson's 42 paint points was the third time this season it has scored at least 40 paint points.
• This was the fourth straight home game in which Towson never trailed during the second half.
• The 41-point margin of victory tied for the ninth largest margin of victory in school history.
• This was Towson's second victory by at least 40 points this season.
• Towson has scored at least 80 points in three home games.
• Towson is averaging 80.5 points at home this season.
• The Tigers are 5-0 at home this season, the second time in three seasons it has opened by winning their first five home contests.
• This was the sixth time this season, Towson has had at least five blocked shots in a single game.
• Dwayne Bazemore led Rio Grande (10-5) with 17 points.

Rebounding Nuggets

• The Tigers had two players finish with double-digit rebounds in the same game for the first time this season.
• This was the first time this season that Towson had two players register double-doubles in the same game.
• That last occurred in last year's season finale against Delaware on Feb. 28, 2015: Foster (12 points, 11 rebounds) and Davis (11 points and 11 rebounds).
• The last time Towson had three players with double digit rebounds in same game was against Goucher on Nov. 26, 2014: Davis 15, Parker-Rivera & Alex Gavrilovic 10 rebounds each.

Open Mic
Adala Moto
"We were pleased with our performance today. We wanted to make sure that we execute defensively, defend the 3-pointer and limit our turnovers. We take a lot of pride in our defense so we focused on that coming into today. We were able to play without fouling today, which was good."
 
Davis
"I thought our execution on offense was good and we made the most of our plays. We hang our hats on playing defense, so honestly this type of performance is what we expect every time we take the court. As for my rebounding, I just tried to be aggressive."
 
Up Next
Towson concludes its non-conference schedule by hosting UMBC Wednesday afternoon at SECU Arena beginning at 2:00 p.m. Towson is 11-1 over the last three years against Maryland schools.