TOWSON, Md. – With heavy hearts, the Towson University men's basketball team defeated UNCW, 77-66, in a Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) contest Thursday night at SECU Arena.
It was a night of triumph, turbulence and tension for the Tigers as they extended their winning streak to a season-best seven games.
Towson also celebrated the 30th anniversary of its first NCAA Tournament squad throughout the festive evening. The faces of the fans lit up the darkened arena like twinkling lights when the highlight video of the 1989-90 team played during halftime. Players and support staff of that squad were honored at halftime following the video.
Members of that legendary team met with the current Tigers pregame and then were treated to another brilliant exhibition of team basketball from them as they tied a season-high with 10 3-pointers.
Towson finished with 16 assists on 24 baskets and had three players in double figures led by senior guard
Brian Fobbs, who scored 14 points. Senior
Nakye Sanders enjoyed his third double-double this season and the sixth of his career with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Redshirt junior
Juwan Gray, who played with "RIPMAMBA" stenciled on the side of his pink sneakers in black ink, added 10 points. Freshman
Jason Gibson contributed nine points and a career best six assists for the Tigers. Redshirt freshman
Nicolas Timberlake was a force with nine points, five rebounds and a pair of assists.
Senior
Dennis Tunstall added eight points and seven rebounds for Towson, which won its third consecutive CAA contest by double digits for the first time in program history.
Thoughts before the game were with Kobe Bryant, who died along with eight others in Sunday's helicopter crash in California. There was an eight-second moment of silence in his honor prior to the national anthem. UNCW players wore navy blue warmup shirts with gold numbers 24 or 8 and MAMBA spelled above it.
"I couldn't believe it when my brother called to tell me," Sanders said. "I was a Kobe fan my whole life. It just really makes you enjoy life. This hit home for me. Anytime something like this happens, it just humbles you. We talked in the group chat a lot, but it was sad. Nobody really wanted to talk and everybody stayed inside. We just wanted to make sure everybody was O.K. because believe it or not that hurt a lot more than a lot of people expected."
Gray was at the Towson women's game on Sunday when he received the text message from teammate
Nicolas Timberlake. It's been a surreal and emotional week as everybody has tried processing and making sense of the tragedy. Gray reflected back on what Bryant meant to the sport.
"He changed the game with his mindset of always outworking his opponent," Gray said. "Not too many players have that mentality and he was able to plant seeds in the younger players to develop that mentality. He made the game better and tougher. It was a big loss man. Makes you understand that you can't take life for granted.
"I wrote his name on my sneakers because I wanted to show a tribute to Kobe and his daughter. Pay my respects to him and show people how much he meant to my life."
Inside the Numbers
- This is Towson's first season sweep of UNCW since the 2012-13 season.
- Towson has defeated UNCW three consecutive times.
- Towson has led by double digits at some point in five consecutive home games and six straight overall.
- With its 9-0 run in the first half, it was the 17th time this season that Towson has enjoyed a scoring burst of nine or more consecutive points.
- Towson held UNCW to 37.5 percent shooting, the third time in the last four games, Towson has limited an opponent to below 40 percent shooting.
- Towson won the rebounding battle, 42-29, the ninth time this season that Towson finished with at least 40 rebounds.
- The Tigers have had double digit assists in five of their last seven games.
- Brian Fobbs, whose 3-pointer with 17:07 remaining gave Towson the lead for good, 7-4, added five rebounds and three assists.
- Fobbs has 29 career games in which he's made at least two or more 3-pointers.
- Sanders has scored in double figures seven times this season and 26 times in his career.
- Jakigh Dottin hit two 3-pointers in a 50-second span of the first half to help Towson open a 16-7 advantage with 14:45 remaining.
- Despite trailing, 40-30 at halftime, UNCW closed to within 44-42 (15:44 left) and 46-44 (14:19).
- The Tigers went on a 10-2 run capped by Tunstall converting an old-fashioned 3-point play for a 56-46 lead with 10:17 remaining.
- UNCW was led in scoring by Jaylen Sims (16 points), Marten Linssen (12) and Ty Gadsden (11, five assists).
- The last time Towson won three straight conference games by double digits was during the 1991-92 season: (UMBC, 113-103 on Feb. 15, Buffalo, 98-65 on Feb. 17 and at Brooklyn, 89-66 on Feb. 20). It was Towson's final year in the East Coast Conference.
- Towson last won seven straight CAA games from Feb. 15 through March 8, 2014. The first six were regular season games and the seventh one was a CAA tournament contest.
Next Home Game
- Towson hosts the College of Charleston on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 2 p.m.
- It will be the Tigers' annual Autism Awareness game.
Final Words
Sanders on what quality he will always use from Bryant.
"Mamba mentality. You can never quit. There were so many times I wanted to quit basketball alone. I've had hard times and felt like basketball wasn't the best for me at the time. I learned you got to keep pushing through and no matter what happens, you got to work harder."
Gray looking ahead to the Charleston game.
"We can be happy about this win, but we can't be complacent. We know we have a good team coming in here on Saturday. We're excited about the opportunity to compete on our home floor. We have to stay focused and dialed in and be ready for the challenge."
