BELFAST, Northern Ireland – Behind a strong second-half showing the Towson University men's basketball team bested La Salle, 67-60, at the Basketball Hall of Fame Belfast Classic at SSE Arena.
 
The Friday evening game, which tipped off at 7 p.m. in Northern Ireland, was tied 33-33 at halftime, but Towson came out strong in the second half, outscoring the Explorers 34-27 over the final 20 minutes. In addition, the Tigers held La Salle to 2-of-12 shooting from 3-point distance in the second half.
 
Ranked 23rd in the latest College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 poll, Towson will play Manhattan College Saturday afternoon. Tipoff for the Belfast Classic Championship game is set for noon Eastern Time, or 5 p.m. local time in Belfast. The game will be carried nationally in the United States on the CBS Sports Network.
 
The Tigers, who played their first-ever collegiate game in Europe, out-rebounded La Salle 36-30, pulling down 30 defensive rebounds. Pressure was key for Towson as La Salle turned the ball over 12 times, allowing the Tigers to capitalize with 21 points off of turnovers.
 
The Tigers are off to their best start since they began the 1976-77 season 25-1.  The start also ties the third-best in school history.
 
Records
Towson           7-1 (2014-15 team also started 7-1)
La Salle           4-4
 
Quotable
Towson head coach Pat Skerry on playing in the Belfast Classic
"What a tremendous atmosphere here tonight. The place was rocking and the building looked sensational. We're really proud to be part of something like this. For us, this is reminded us of something we're going to see in the conference tournament. Kudos to the fans for coming out, the city for its hospitality and to the committee that organized this tournament. It's special. This is a great win for us over a very good La Salle team."
 
Morsell on the opportunity of playing in Belfast.
"It's cool and a nice experience for us. It's something different from back home and we're all honored to be part of a tournament like this. I've been taking everything in so far."
 
Martin on the opportunity of playing in Belfast.
It's been a fun trip and we've had an opportunity to bond with everybody. We're getting closer as unit and showing a lot of love to each other. Also, Ireland has shown us a lot of love since we've been here and it's something we appreciate.
 
How It Happened

• Towson outscored La Salle, 19-8, over the final 7 minutes, 54 seconds to extend its winning streak to seven.
• Martin, who attacked with vigor, intelligence, and wonderful success, scored eight of his team-high 20 points in the final five minutes.
• Morsell finished with 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting. He also had five rebounds along with Martin.
• With Towson holding a slim edge, Brian Starr delivered the shot of the game, a deep 3-pointer that touched nothing but net with the shot clock expiring that expanded Towson's edge to 63-58 with 73 seconds remaining.
• Starr finished with nine points and four assists.
• Eddie Keith II, who led the Tigers with six rebounds, gave Towson the lead for good, 60-58, with a nifty reverse layup with 2 minutes, 35 seconds remaining.
• Keith II did his best work on the defensive end as he made life difficult for La Salle's leading scorer B.J. Johnson.
• Even though Johnson led the Explorers with 24 points and nine rebounds, Keith II's tough defense along with that of other Tigers limited him to 5-of-21 shooting.
• An effort made more impressive considering Johnson hit his first two shots of the game.
• The Tigers survived even though La Salle made nine 3-pointers.
• Towson held La Salle to 36.0 percent shooting (18-for-50).
• Racing out to a 15-6 lead eight minutes into the game, the Explorers made six of their first 12 shots.
• Deshaun Morman gave Towson its first lead, 19-18, with 6:08 remaining in the first half.
• This was the first time this season Towson didn't have a halftime lead.

 
Inside the Numbers

• This was Towson's first win over La Salle since beating the Explorers 93-90 in overtime on Dec. 29, 2010.
• There were four different times during the game in which Towson held La Salle without a field goal for at least three minutes.
• Martin has scored in double figures seven times this season to lead Towson.
• It was Martin's fourth game with 20 or more points.
• Towson has outrebounded 55 of its last 60 opponents.
• Morsell tied John Bays for 10th place for most games started with 79.
• Morsell raised his career scoring total to 1,182 points to move past Terrance Jacobs and into 17th place all-time.
• This was Morsell's 58th career game in double figures.
• Towson outscored La Salle, 30-10, in the paint.
• The game featured 13 lead changes and 11 ties.
• Towson, which led for 7:31, improved to 2-0 against the Philadelphia Big Five this season.
• This was the fifth time this season Towson held an opponent below 40 percent shooting.

 
A Look At Manhattan
Manhattan defeated Holy Cross, 70-54, behind a balanced effort that saw four players reach double digits. Zane Waterman and Calvin Crawford had 14 points each for the Jaspers, who are 2-0 all-time against Towson. This will be the first meeting against Manhattan since Dec. 20, 2011. Holy Cross meets La Salle in the consolation game at 9:30 a.m. Both games will be televised live on CBS Sports Network.
 
Next Home Game
Towson returns home to host Morgan State on Wednesday, Dec. 6 in the Battle for Greater Baltimore. Tip time from SECU Arena is 7 p.m.