"You have to give yourself up to and for the team," -- L.A. Clippers head coach Doc Rivers.

TOWSON, Md. – Another Towson University men's basketball season dawns.
 
A blank canvas offers the Tigers an opportunity to create fresh memories in 2019-20 as a new a chapter in Towson history featuring an experienced team will be written possession by possession. This is the final season opening contest of this decade.
 
All 351 NCAA Division I programs begin the season with the same goals. Every squad has spent time over the summer enhancing their games in the lonely sanctuary of their gyms by doing extra shooting drills, lifting weights and running additional laps. Towson understands the only way to make their dreams a reality is to take small steps during its five-month journey.
 

When:	Tuesday, November 5, 2019
Where	SECU Arena -- Towson, Md.
Time:	7 p.m.
Records:	Towson (0-0); George Washington (0-0)
Television/Internet:	Flo Hoops with Brent Harris and John Davis
Radio:	CBS Sports Radio 1300AM with Spiro Morakes
Series History:	George Washington, 10-1
Streak/Last Meeting:	George Washington won 68-64 on Dec. 4, 2018 GW has a nine-game winning streak.
Social Media Updates:	@Towson_MBB

 
Game Promotion

• This will be the second game of a home doubleheader as the Towson women hosts Penn State at 4 p.m.
• The first 500 Towson students will receive a "Jungle" t-shirt.
• There will also be free food served as well beginning at 6 p.m. for Towson students.

 
Starting Five

• George Washington is visiting Towson for the first time since Dec. 12, 2009.
• The last three meetings between Towson and GW have been decided by six points or less including last year's 68-64 GW win.
• This is the first time since 2013 Towson is opening a season with a home game. TU beat Navy, 72-45, on Nov. 8, 2013 in the first game ever played at SECU Arena.
• George Washington is the third Atlantic-10 opponent in the last five years that the Tigers will begin the season against. Towson lost to La Salle in 2015 and beat George Mason in 2016.
• Towson has led the CAA in rebounding margin for five consecutive years.

 
Towson Update

• Head coach Pat Skerry begins his ninth season in charge of the Tigers.
• Towson was picked sixth in the CAA preseason poll.
• Brian Fobbs was named to the All-CAA Preseason 1st Team.
• Fobbs finished last season with eight 20-point outings over his last 14 games and 26 double-digit efforts in his final 28 contests.
• Towson held eight teams below 40 percent shooting last season.
• The Tigers led the CAA in field goal percentage defense last season (43.6%).
• Among Towson's returnees, nine of them played 10 or more minutes and started at least three games last season.
• Dennis Tunstall has 79 career blocked shots and 442 career rebounds.
• Tunstall is poised to become the ninth player in program history to have 100 career blocked shots. In addition, with two blocked shots, he'll move past Lawrence Hamm (80) and into 10th place on the all-time blocked shot charts.
• Tunstall has at least one blocked shot in 46 of the 93 career games he has played in for Towson (49.4 percent).
• Allen Betrand finished last season with 13 assists to three turnovers in Towson's last five games.
• Jakigh Dottin started Towson's final 13 games last season.
• Nakye Sanders finished ninth in the CAA in blocked shots (0.6), 13th in offensive rebounds per game (1.5), and 15th in rebounding.
• Sanders scored in double figures 14 times and recorded three double-doubles.

 
A Look At George Washington

• Jamion Christian enters his first year as head coach of GW. He was at Siena last season and also coached at Mount St. Mary's, where he led the Mount to a pair of NCAA Tournaments.
• Members of the Atlantic-10, the Colonials return seven players who made at least one start last season.
• George Washington was picked to finish 12th in the 14-team Atlantic-10 Conference preseason poll.
• GW returns seven student-athletes who made at least one start a season ago, headlined by returning big man Arnaldo Toro who nearly averaged a double-double before his season was cut short due to injury after just seven games.
• George Washington returns seven of its top nine scorers from last season.
• Maceo Jack is the Colonials' returning leading scorer. He averaged11.5 points per game and 13.5 points per game in the Atlantic-10. He also made a team best 64 3-pointers.
• George Washington also enjoys some stability thanks to the return of guard Justin Mazzulla (8.9 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 3.5 apg), who was the only Colonial to start every game last season.

 
The Last Meeting/Series Notes

• Towson dropped a 68-64 decision at the Charles E. Smith Center Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018.
• Brian Fobbs led Towson in scoring with 17 points and six rebounds.
• Nkaye Sanders and Nicolas Timberlake added 10 points each for the Tigers.
• Dennis Tunstall's career-high tying 13 rebounds helped the Tigers win the battle of the boards, 36-24.
• The Tigers won the battle of the benches, 17-5, behind Timberlake.
• Towson turned 14 offensive rebounds into 16 second-chance points.
• The last three games against George Washington have been decided by six points or less, all GW victories.
• Towson's only victory over GW was a 57-56 decision on Feb. 23, 1981.

Tough Non-Conference Slate
Towson will play three teams who are ranked in the preseason CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll: Vermont (No. 4) and Liberty (No. 6). In addition, potential opponents in the Gildan Charleston Classic Missouri State is ranked 10th and Buffalo is ranked 21st. Kent State and another potential opponent Akron are receiving votes. These contests are in addition to the games against nationally-ranked Florida (No. 6 in Associated Press poll) and Xavier (No. 20).
 
Sound Smart With Your Friends (Borrowed from MLB.com)

• Towson is 11-2 when holding teams below 30 percent shooting (7-2 against Division I opponents) under head coach Pat Skerry.
• Freshman Charles Thompson wears a size 17 shoe.
• Betrand changed his number from No. 3 to No. 2 because "Two was the last number my grandmother saw me play in."
• Towson has the highest Graduation Success Rate (GSR) in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) according to the NCAA's report released in October 2019.
• Towson's roster represents eight states (Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania) and the District of Columbia.

 
Coming Attractions

• Towson continues its three-game homestand by hosting Division III Bryn Athyn on Friday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m.
• The Tigers conclude the homestand against Kent State on Monday, Nov. 11 at 7 p.m.
• Kent State is coached by Rob Senderoff who was an assistant here at Towson under former coach Michael Hunt in 2001-02. (hat-tip to former TU SID and Hall of Famer Pete Schlehr for this note).
• Kent State recently signed who is believed to be the first Division I student-athlete on the autism spectrum in Kalin Bennett. With Towson head coach Pat Skerry's dedicated commitment to raising autism awareness, this contest has added significance. From Kent State's website: "The game at Towson will be special as their head coach Pat Skerry started the Autism Awareness Program. Because of his involvement, and Kalin a member of our team, this will be a very meaningful game for us."

 
FloSports Partnership With The CAA
Founded in 2006, FloSports is a venture-backed OTT subscription video streaming service dedicated to sports, offering live and on- demand access to tens of thousands of competitions across 20+ sports in the US and abroad. FloSports offers a growing library of more than 2,000 hours of premium content and owns exclusive broadcast rights to 4,000+ premier events, with over 1M hours live streamed since inception. The company has 250 employees and is based in Austin, TX. For more information, please visit flosports.tv. Towson fans can subscribe at a rate of $12.50 per month or $95.88 per year ($7.99 per month), which provides access to all CAA games and special features, as well as all of the content that FloSports offers. Fans can watch the games live and via on-demand, while also getting other exclusive CAA content by becoming a monthly or annual subscriber. Either subscription unlocks access to premium content across the entire FloSports network and fans can watch across all screens by downloading the FloSports app on iOS, Roku, or Apple TV 4.

Tigers in the Community
The Towson University athletics department deems community service as one of its highest priorities to give back to the Greater Baltimore area. For the seventh consecutive year, the department exceeded 10,000 hours of community service to the Greater Baltimore region, finishing with 11,162 hours of community service in the 2018-19 academic season. Towson ranked No. 1 nationally for community service and won the 2018 National Championship for Community Service through the Helper Helper NCAA Team Works Competition. Towson had a 97% participation rate, attended 118 community service opportunities and volunteered with 19 organizations. Towson won the 2018 Volunteer of the Year Award from Susan G. Komen of Maryland.