TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University men's basketball team sprinted out of the starting blocks with Usain Bolt-like speed, survived a second-half rally and had three players reach double-figures during a solid 76-60 Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) victory over UNCW at SECU Arena Thursday night.
 
Towson's terrific triumvirate of William Adala Moto, Mike Morsell and Byron Hawkins combined for 53 points to help the Tigers permanently purge memories of last Saturday's loss to Hofstra. While they were the headliners, Timajh Parker-Rivera, Alex Thomas, Eddie Keith II, John Davis, Josh Ivory and Walter Foster all made significant contributions during the Tigers (11-5 overall, 2-1 CAA) seventh home win of the season.
 
"I am proud of our players and coaches tonight," Towson head coach Pat Skerry said. "There were a lot of great in-game adjustments that were made tonight, which helped us. I was happy with our response and we got back to playing Towson basketball tonight."
 
How It Happened

• Towson trailed for 12 seconds.
• The Tigers limited UNCW to 11 points each over the first 11 minutes and the final nine minutes of the game.
• Towson made 29-of-36 from the free-throw line, including 18-of-20 in the second half.
• The Tigers held UNCW, the CAA's leader in scoring offense, 23 points below its season average of 83.8.
• Thomas had a quick block party swatting a career-best three shots in five minutes during a key second half stretch.
• The Tigers roared to a 17-4 advantage in the first 7:05 sparked by five points from Adala-Moto six points and five rebounds from Morsell.
• Towson held UNCW to 9-of-26 shooting in the first half.
• UNCW's Denzel Ingram banked home a 3-pointer from just inside half court as the first half buzzer sounded to cut Towson's halftime edge to 36-25.
• The Tigers opened the second half by scoring the first six points to open their largest advantage of the game, 42-25 with 18:02 remaining following a Byron Hawkins layup.
• UNCW's C.J. Gettys converted an old-fashioned three-point play to slice the Tigers' lead to 54-49 with nine minutes remaining.
• Gettys' basket capped a 24-12 UNCW run over a nine-minute period of the second half.
• Towson scored nine of its next 11 points from the foul line to open a 65-53 lead with 4:34 remaining.
• Keith sank a 3-pointer from 25 feet to put the Tigers ahead 68-53.
• Morsell capped off a brilliant all-around performance with a two-handed dunk.
• Hawkins knifed through the Seahawks defense for four layups throughout the game.

 
Inside the Boxscore

• Parker-Rivera participated in his 115th career game for Towson to move into a tie for fifth place in games played with John James.
• With 20 points, Adala Moto has scored in double figures in 11 consecutive games.
• This was the second time in three conference games that Adala Moto has made (13) and attempted (14) double-digit free throws.
• It was Adala Moto's first game scoring at least 20 points since his 28-point performance in Towson's season-opener against La Salle.
• Morsell scored 17 points, grabbed a season-high nine rebounds and handed out five assists.
• For Morsell, this was the fifth consecutive game, 10th this season and 19th in his career scoring in double figures.
• Hawkins complemented his 16-point effort by tying a career high with six rebounds.
• The Tigers finished with 16 assists on their 21 baskets.
• Towson shot 52.6 percent in the second half (10-for-19).
• The Tigers attempted more free throws (20) than field goals (19) in the second half.
• Towson collected 12 of the game's first 14 rebounds.
• Towson improved to 7-1 at SECU Arena this season.
• This was Towson's first win over UNCW since a 60-53 victory on Jan. 11, 2014 at Towson.
• In ending a three-game losing streak to the Seahawks, Towson improved to 14-19 all-time against UNCW.
• Towson also ended a five-game home losing skid against CAA opponents.
• The Tigers held UNCW to a season-low point total.
• UNCW has lost four consecutive road games.
• Ingram led three UNCW players in double figures with 18 points. He made four 3-pointers.

 
Quotable
Adala-Moto on his mentality
"Coach did a great job of scouting them. We knew they were going to press and try to steal the ball. We had to take care of the ball and be aggressive attacking the rim. So I was focused on attacking the rim, finishing strong and making my foul shots."
 
Hawkins on rebounding from Saturday's setback
"Everybody was aware that we didn't play well at all last week (against Hofstra) and the score showed that. We knew had to play with a sense of urgency tonight. Coach kept stressing to us all week our mentality. He said that whatever mentality you bring to the game and that's what the results are going to be."
 
Up Next
Towson makes its annual visit to James Madison Saturday afternoon. Tip-off is at 4 p.m.