TOWSON, Md. – Five Tigers scored in double figures as the Towson University men's basketball team earned a +23 rebound margin and a 78-73 victory in the home opener over Baltimore rival Coppin State on Saturday afternoon.
 
At 56-56 in a game that went back-and-forth most of the day, a Demetrius Mims fast break, thunderous dunk continued a 17-2 run for Towson in the latter portion of the second half for a 71-58 Tigers lead.  Coppin State got back to within two possessions, but the Tigers held for the victory.
 
Records:

• Towson – 1-4
• Coppin State: 1-8

Key Stats:

• Towson dominated on the boards, earning a +23 rebound margin.  Towson players combined for 53 rebounds, holding the Eagles to 30.  Four Tigers had at least seven rebounds.
• Towson also dominated in the paint, earning 40 of its 78 points down low and holding Coppin State to 26 points in the paint.
• Five Towson players earned double figure points, led by Nicolas Timberlake's 18, going 7-for-12 from the field, with five rebounds.  Charles Thompson earned his first career double-double off 12 points and 11 rebounds, the latter a team-high, while Juwan Gray nearly had the same feat on 12 points, nine boards and three assists.  Solomon Uyaelunmo and Demetrius Mims each netted 10 points; Uyaelunmo shot 5-for-6 with seven rebounds.
• For Coppin State, Koby Thomas picked up a double-double off 23 points and 10 rebounds.  Kenan Sarvan added 16 points, including four three-pointers.

Postgame Quotes:
Towson head coach Pat Skerry: "I'm proud of our guys for hanging in there, Coppin is a difficult team to prepare for with the way they play.  We had a good stretch late, we needed a win with one of the toughest schedules in the country that we've played so far."
 
Towson forward Charles Thompson: "This means a lot to us, we've been struggling recently.  We had a tough three losses in Connecticut and another against George Mason, for us to finally get a win and get over that hump, our mentality changes, now we have to keep going.
 
How it Happened:

• Coppin State got the early advantage when at 9-7, the Eagles went on an 11-0 run, including back-to-back threes from Kenan Sarvan, to lead 20-7 in the game's opening 8:18.
• Towson looked to regroup, chipping away with drives to the paint.  A second-chance dunk from Charles Thompson dunk started a 10-0 run to pull Towson within five, continued by a Nicolas Timberlake three, a layup and one from Jakigh Dottin and another dunk from Thompson.  Towson trailed 20-17 with 9:10 left in the 1^st.  Later, a Juwan Gray fast break layup and one got the Tigers within one.
• Coppin State continued to fire away from three, getting the lead back to five in the waning minutes of the first half.  Towson tied the game with a Cam Allen elbow three, then after a Coppin State free throw, two Dottin free throws gave the Tigers a 34-33 lead at the break.
• Early success in the paint for the Eagles in the second half, spurred by fast break attacks off turnovers, returned the lead to Coppin State.  A couple more threes made the score 45-38 Coppin State with 16:24 left in the period.
• Towson kept to the gameplan and focused on play under the basket.  A Timberlake jumper and two makes by Solomon Uyaelunmo pulled the home team back to within one.
• Back and forth the teams battled as Zane Martin and Demetrius Mims hit big baskets to tie the game.  The Mims make put the score at 56-56 with eight minutes to play.
• Out of the media timeout, Mims sprinted to the basket and threw down the ball, leading to an eruption from the Towson bench.  The defense held off Coppin State's three-point field goal attempts, keeping the Eagles to two points in a span of six minutes.  Gray, Allen, Thompson and Timberlake contributed to a 17-2 run as the Tigers bolted ahead 71-58 with 3:41 to play.
• At 75-63 Towson in the final minute, a couple of Coppin State made threes, then two free throws, brought the visitors within four with 22 seconds left.  Dottin hit a pair of free throws, which was countered by a Koby Thomas dunk.  Towson held on the final possessions to take the 78-73 victory.

Inside the Numbers:

• A +23-rebounding margin is the tied for the most in a game for Towson since the Tigers had +24 vs. Tulane on Dec. 21, 2018.  Towson also had +23 vs. Hofstra on Feb. 27, 2020.
• This is Towson's fourth win in a row against Coppin State, improving in the all-time series to 10-5.
• Towson has won its last eight home openers dating back to the 2013-14 season.
• Today's home opener is the latest first home game since at least the 1971-72 season in Towson history.
• Nicolas Timberlake had scored in double-doubles in four of Towson's five games this year.
• Along with his first career double-double, Charles Thompson had his second 10+ rebound game of his Towson career.
• The starting lineup of Zane Martin, Juwan Gray, Nicolas Timberlake, Charles Thompson and Solomon Uyaelunmo is the fourth different starting-five in five games this year.

Next Game:
Towson returns to the road for a 3 p.m. game on Tuesday, Dec. 29, taking on Iona in New York.
 
- TowsonTigers.com –