TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University men's basketball team exited Charleston's TD Arena with its heads held high despite falling to 0-3 in the rugged Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) on Thursday, Jan. 2.
After an encouraging postgame message from Towson head coach
Pat Skerry, many players bopped with a confident gait to the warm bus waiting outside the arena with earphones for the four-hour bus ride to Wilmington, N.C.
Eyes forward.
Focused on the next challenge.
When the Tigers gathered for practice the following day at Cape Fear Community College, they were loose, smiling and excited to return to their hardwood sanctuary. The Tigers had a spirited two-hour practice in preparation for UNCW as they were reminded that all of their goals were ahead of them despite the less than ideal beginning to conference play.
Fast forward four weeks later, the Towson Tigers (12-9 overall, 6-3 CAA) are the hottest team in the CAA thanks to a six-game winning streak that has showcased the blue-collar ethos of the program that make the Tigers special.
Fans should be in for a treat this week when the Tigers return to SECU Arena to host UNCW (7-15, 2-7) on Thursday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. and the College of Charleston (12-9, 6-3) on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 2 p.m. Towson will celebrate and honor its 1989-90 and 1990-91 NCAA Tournament squads on Thursday. The Tigers will host their annual autism awareness game on Saturday.
Towson has been dominant, winning four of its six contests during the streak by double digits. The Tigers displayed grit and tenacity in battling for tough road wins and overcoming late deficits to take control down the stretch against UNCW and Elon. Towson had a 20-point lead at some point in three straight conference games.
In its most recent victory at William & Mary, Towson provided a glimpse of the glimmering memories it wants to create by competing with workmanlike diligence. The Tigers stared down first-place William & Mary in the savage cauldron of rough road environment.
They answered every W&M burst with poise and confidence.
Each time the W&M fans tried turning up the volume,
Jason Gibson silenced them with a well-placed 3-pointer,
Brian Fobbs hushed them with a timely steal or
Dennis Tunstall quieted them with a critical blocked shot.
Towson shot 53 percent and limited W&M to 23 points in the second half with its suffocating defense, which has been a swirling force of destructive energy.
During last week's road trip, Towson held its opponents to 19 percent shooting in the final five minutes, with Elon going 3-for-15 (20%) and W&M being 1-for-6 (16.7%), the latter adding six turnovers. In addition, Elon and W&M combined for 32.2 percent shooting from the field in the second half and 17.3 percent three-point shooting in the second half.
By the time Towson gathered to shake hands with William & Mary, the Tigers had transformed Kaplan Arena into a tabernacle of gloom. Towson never trailed against the Tribe, the third game during its winning streak in which the Tigers led wire-to-wire.
During the winning streak,
Allen Betrand earned CAA Player of the Week recognition on Jan. 13. He's scored at least 16 points in five of the six games during the winning streak, including a career best 23 against Drexel. Gibson was named CAA Rookie of the Week on Jan. 27 after tallying a career best 21 against William & Mary. Fobbs has been named to the CAA honor roll in consecutive weeks.
Dennis Tunstall had seven blocked shots on the road trip, including the 100th of his career.
Nakye Sanders has been a rock of excellence in the post for the Tigers. His nine points in the first four minutes of the second half against James Madison keyed a 20-3 Tiger run.
Juwan Gray,
Nicolas Timberlake,
Jakigh Dottin and
Charles Thompson have provided great moments and key contributions during the winning streak.
By no means are the Tigers satisfied. They know there's more to accomplish. They are taking a one-game at-a-time approach. Blinders on. By the time, the Tigers shake hands with Northeastern on March 1 to conclude the regular season, only then will they look up to see their postseason path takes them.
For now, the Tigers are hungry for much more at the halfway mark of the conference schedule despite being one game behind first-place William & Mary. Towson is tied with Hofstra and the College of Charleston in second place.
There's been no special secret to Towson's winning streak. The Tigers have remained true to themselves and never lost confidence. They understood after the Charleston loss that the CAA is a two-month marathon, not a sprint.
With nine games remaining, the CAA race is now the equivalent of an 800-meter run.
