GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Staying together is the theme for the Towson University men's basketball team following a 66-60 setback in an exciting non-conference contest lathered with sweat and suspense at the ExacTech Arena at the Stephen O'Connell Center Thursday night.
The Tigers departed the arena and into the rainy night disappointed with the final result, but strengthened by their unity, resilience and character. When things got tough during their first road game against a ranked opponent, the Tigers relied on each other, supported one another and confidently answered many Gator salvos throughout the game.
The Tigers know that a selfless attitude can lead to great accomplishments. They believe there's something special headed on the horizon of this basketball season as long as they continue trusting each other and their coaches.
Towson was right it expected to be when they made the trip here – in a position to win thanks to another tenacious defensive effort and a relentless rebounding performance.
For most of the night, the Tigers pulled the plug on the home crowd, including the "Rowdy Reptiles", the energetic Florida student section. The faces of many of the Florida fans were twisted in angst until the final minute when the Gators finally subdued the visiting Tigers.
Allen Bertrand scored 14 points for the Tigers (2-2), and his 3-pointer with 5 minutes, 46 seconds remaining gave Towson its last lead at 57-55. The Tigers and Gators were tied at 60 following
Juwan Gray's corner 3-pointer with 2:14 remaining. Towson had two chances with the ball to take a lead in the final 90 seconds, but it wasn't meant to be.
Brian Fobbs added 12 points and
Jakigh Dottin finished with 10 points. Towson won the rebounding battle, 32-30 and got a pair of huge blocked shots from Gray, who scored seven points.
The Gators had three players reach double figures led by Scottie Lewis' 15 points. Making his first start of the season, Lewis, ranked ESPN's No. 10 overall prospect in the 2019 class, went 5-for-8 from the field, including 2 of 4 from 3-point range. Graduate transfer Kerry Blackshear Jr. had 13 points and 13 rebounds in his third game with his new team.
Andrew Nembhard had 11 points and nine assists for the Gators.
Quotable
Towson head coach Pat Skerry on the game.
"We knew Florida was a terrific team. Extremely well-coached. They defend. They have good players and they are organized…. We don't believe in moral victories. I really love my group and I think we have the chance to be a good club this year in our league. We played well, but we have a few things to work out. Not to take anything away from Florida, they are terrific, but this is also the type of game that will benefit us later on. Who knows, we may see each other in a week in Charleston."
Dottin on what he learned new, if anything about his team following the tough loss.
"We just have to keep going and stay together. I wasn't surprised, but I was very enlightened at how we stayed together all throughout the game. Even though there's no moral victories, we were pleased with how we stayed together and battled. A lot of us being from powerhouse high schools are used to playing in this type of high-level environment so we weren't intimidated coming in here. We were able to get out there and block everything out and play as a team."
Florida head coach Mike White on Towson's effort and team.
"I thought we played with some toughness. Towson is really good and Pat [Skerry] does a terrific job. They execute well and their guards were fantastic. Their bigs really move well and defend well and rebound well. They provided that physicality that you talked about. They played with poise and confidence. They're very good and we were fortunate. They played well enough to come in here and steal one."
How It Happened
- Blackshear, Jr. gave Florida the lead for good, 62-60, with an inside basket with 65 seconds remaining.
- Towson made one of its final six field goal attempts in the last five minutes.
- The Tigers connected at a 43.8 percent clip for the contest (21-for-48).
- Scoring at all three levels during an inspired second half scoring show, Betrand tallied 12 of his team-best point total in the final 20 minutes.
- Towson led twice in the first 90 seconds of the second half at 32-30 (Tunstall basket) and 35-33 (Dottin 3-pointer).
- Dottin complemented his scoring production by dishing four assists.
- Fobbs scored 10 of his points in the first half to help Towson to a 30-30 intermission deadlock.
- Towson put Florida and the rest of the national television audience on notice that it wasn't going to roll over when it unleashed a breathtaking 11-0 burst during a three-minute period stretch of the first half.
- When Dottin's 3-pointer swished through the net with 9:29 remaining, Towson enjoyed its largest lead of the game, 19-13.
- During the Tigers' run, they made five consecutive baskets.
Inside the Numbers
- This was the 31st career game for Fobbs reaching double digits.
- He has scored in double figures in all four games this season.
- Betrand has scored in double figures in three of Towson's four games.
- It was the seventh career double digit scoring game for Betrand.
- Dottin, who leads the Colonial Athletic Associaton, in assist-to-turnover ratio finished with at least four assists for the third time this season.
- Dottin has 15 assists and one turnover for Towson in 2019-20.
- Towson won the battle of the benches for the fourth straight game, 15-13.
- Nakye Sanders led Towson with six rebounds in 19 tough minutes.
- Tunstall and Fobbs had five rebounds each.
- The Tigers attempted five fouls shots in the second half while Florida attempted 14 free throws after intermission.
- Towson has enjoyed a run of 10 or more consecutive points in three of its four games.
- There were 16 lead changes and seven ties.
- Florida's largest lead of the game was the final score.
Up Next
Towson competes in the Charleston Classic. The Tigers open the tournament against 21
st-ranked Xavier on Thursday, Nov. 21 at 7 p.m. That game will be televised on ESPNU or ESPN News with Kevin Fitzgerald and Debbie Antonelli on the call from the TD Bank Arena on the College of Charleston campus.
