TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University men's basketball team combined entertainment and excellence to claim its third consecutive victory after defeating rival Delaware 84-68 in a Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) masterpiece Saturday afternoon.
SECU Arena throbbed with excitement thanks to a 21-3 first half explosion that was the catalyst for Towson's 11th win in its last 15 outings over the Blue Hens.
Towson created consistent chaos on defense during a dominant first-half. The Tigers held Delaware to 33 percent shooting, limited the Blue Hens to three baskets over the final 12 minutes and sprinted to a 22-point halftime bulge for the second straight game.
In an elegant performance that finished a week of glimmering memories, the balanced Tigers placed five players in double figures and handed out a season best 18 assists on 28 baskets. Towson's offensive brilliance featured symmetrical spacing, choreographed cutting and balletic ball movement better suited to a theatre than a gym.
Towson sophomore guard
Allen Betrand scored a game-high 18 points after making eight of his first nine shots. Betrand also had five rebounds. Redshirt freshman guard
Nicolas Timberlake (14 points, 6-for-6 from the foul line) and redshirt junior guard
Juwan Gray (13 points, five rebounds, career-high tying three blocked shots) combined for 27 of the Tigers' 33 bench points.
Senior guard
Brian Fobbs, who gave the Tigers the lead for good with 12:12 remaining in the first half after a 3-pointer, and freshman guard
Jason Gibson added 12 points each. Senior forward
Nakye Sanders chipped in with nine points and six rebounds.
Delaware, which entered the contest as the top shooting team in the CAA, got 16 points from Nate Darling and 15 points from Ryan Allen. Dylan Painter tallied 11 points for the Blue Hens, which allowed a season-high regulation point total.
Records
Delaware 12-6, 2-3
Towson 9-9, 3-2
Quotable
Towson head coach Pat Skerry on Towson's defense
"I thought Nick's defense was outstanding on their perimeter guys. I thought it was outstanding especially against a team like that with two really good wing players. Juwan had a big block early and a steal to get us going. He might be our best defensive player. He has a high level of intelligence and he moves really well. We pride ourselves on playing defense and I thought the guys did a good job today."
Gray on Towson generating 35 assists in its two victories this week over Delaware and Drexel.
"That's big time. We're a good group and we like being around each other. When we're sharing the ball and everybody is eating and it gets everybody excited. The bench gets happy when somebody makes a 3-pointer off of an assist. It just shows how special of a team we can be when everybody is playing together and locking in on the defensive end."
How It Happened
- Towson set the tone immediately by registering assists on its first seven baskets.
- Seven Tigers had at least two assists highlighted by Jakigh Dottin's season-high tying five helpers.
- The Tigers scored 11 consecutive points as part of their 21-3 run to take control of the game.
- During that run, seven different Tigers scored and they had four assists.
- Betrand's basket with 7:46 remaining in the first half gave the Tigers a 27-17 advantage.
- Towson's lead never dropped below double digits.
- Betrand packaged seven straight points during a 9-0 burst that expanded Towson's lead from 25-17 to 34-17 with 3:43 remaining in the first half.
- Fobbs and Gray connected on 3-pointers late in the first half that swelled Towson's edge to 44-20 with 57 seconds remaining.
- Delaware scored the first four points of the second half to pull to within, 44-26.
- Towson's lead peaked at 26 points following a Gray basket with 15 minutes remaining.
Inside the Numbers
- Towson is 9-0 when it has more assists than its opponent.
- The Tigers have 35 assists in their last two games.
- In their three losses to begin CAA play, Towson tallied 23 helpers.
- The 18 assists tie a season-high. The Tigers had 18 assists against Bryn Athyn.
- The last time Towson had 18 assists against a Division I school was on Nov. 17, 2018 against Florida Atlantic in the Bahamas Showcase.
- Towson had nine steals for the second straight contest.
- This was the first time since last season against Wesley (Nov. 11, 2018) that Towson had at least five players in double figures.
- This was the 15th time this season and 42nd time in his career that Fobbs scored in double digits.
- Betrand has scored in double figures 14 times this season and 18 times in his career.
- This was the fifth time this season that Gibson and Gray have scored in double figures.
- This was Timberlake's third time and the sixth in his career he's scored at least 10 points.
- In its two home games this week, Towson led by double digits for 59 of a possible 80 minutes.
- This was the 13th game in which Sanders finished with at least six rebounds.
- Towson forced 13 turnovers, its most since turning Northeastern over 14 times.
Up Next
- Towson hosts James Madison to finish a three-game homestand on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 2 p.m.
Autism Awareness/Coaches Powering Forward Weekend
- Towson will host the College of Charleston at SECU Arena on Saturday, Feb. 1.
- That game will be the Tigers' annual Autism Awareness contest and Coaches Powering Forward weekend.
