WASHINGTON, D.C. – Brian Fobbs and Jason Gibson combined for 28 points during a 66-54 setback to undefeated Liberty in the D.C. Holiday Hoops Fest at the Entertainment & Sports Arena, home of the 2019 WNBA champion Washington Mystics, Friday night.
 
Towson will play Tulane for third place on Saturday at 1 p.m. Liberty, which remained one of four undefeated NCAA Division I teams, will meet Akron for the championship at 3:30 p.m.
 
The Tigers led 30-25 at intermission and extended their advantage to seven points during the first two minutes of the second half. Towson held a 41-39 lead with 12 minutes, 38 seconds remaining.
 
Records
Liberty            13-0
Towson           5-6
 
How It Happened

• Gibson led the Tigers with 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
• Gibson made both of his 3-pointers during a 55-second stretch of the second half.
• Fobbs tallied 13 points.
• Allen Betrand scored five of his seven points in the final 74 seconds of the first half to help the Tigers to a halftime edge.
• Nakye Sanders collected seven rebounds.
• Sanders also gave Towson its final lead of the game, 41-39 with an old-fashioned three-point play.
• Liberty's Georgie Pacheco-Ortiz scored 13 of his game-high 16 points in the second half.
• Scottie James and Darius McGhee finished with 12 points each for the Flames, who outscored Towson, 41-24, in the second half.
• Towson used runs of 14-0 and 10-0 in the first half to erase an early 14-4 deficit.
• The Tigers got baskets from five players during their 14-0 burst.
• During the run, Timberlake dunked over a Liberty defender and Dennis Tunstall had a two-handed jam.
• Consecutive baskets from Gibson and Juwan Gray were the catalysts for a 10-0 run and a 12-2 finish to the first half over the final 4:36.
• Leading by seven points early in the second half, Towson had the ball twice with an opportunity to extend its lead.

 
Inside the Numbers

• Sanders has finished with at least six rebounds in seven straight games.
• Eight Tigers marked the scoring column.
• Betrand has made a 3-pointer in every game.
• This was the fourth time this season Gibson reached double figures.
• It was the 10th time this season and 39th time in his career he scored in double figures.
• Jakigh Dottin led the Tigers with three assists.
• Towson has had a scoring run of at least nine consecutive points in 10 games this season.
• The Tigers have enjoyed at least a scoring spree of 10 or more straight points in nine games.
• Towson was 3-for-10 from the foul line in the second half.
• Liberty scored all 10 of its second-chance points and grabbed all six of its offensive rebounds in the second half.
• The Flames made 53.6 percent (15-of-28) of their shots in the second half.
• This was the second consecutive game in which Liberty trailed at halftime.
• During Liberty's game-altering 20-4 run, Towson was 1-for-7 from the floor with five turnovers.
• The combined record of the six schools that have defeated Towson is 53-16 (76.8 winning percentage).

 
A Look At Tulane

• Tulane dropped a 62-61 decision to Akron in the first game despite 18 points from Teshaun Hightower.
• K.J. Lawson (14 points, nine rebounds), Kevin Zhang (11 points) and Christion Thompson (10) all reached double digits for the Green Wave.
• Members of the American Athletic Conference, Tulane has already doubled its win total from last season.
• Hightower leads Tulane in scoring with a 16.5 point per game average.
• Lawson contributes 14.9 points per outing and Thompson scores 11.6 points per game.
• The Green Wave have held its last four opponents below 70 points.
• Towson defeated Tulane 73-55 last season in the Boardwalk Battle in Atlantic City.