TOWSON, Md. – All eyes will be on beautiful SECU Arena Thursday night when the Towson University men's basketball team hosts William & Mary in a biggie beginning at 7 p.m.
 
Fans should come out because it's the best game of Thursday's slate of games. Fans should come out and support because a Towson win vaults it past William & Mary and into second place in the congested Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). Fans should come out because the Tigers have won 10 of their last 12 games, including three straight.
 
It's a big, fun and exciting week ahead for the Tigers who play their final two home games of the 2019-20 season against William & Mary on Thursday and Elon on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Tigers own road wins over both teams, but they were in January as part of their seven-game winning streak. Both William & Mary and Elon won inside of SECU Arena last season.
 
This is February and the stakes are much higher.
 

• Towson wakes up this morning tied for third place with Delaware at 9-5 in the conference.
• Both teams are a half-game behind William & Mary, which sits at 10-5.
• Towson and Delaware each have four games remaining and W&M has three.
• All three squads are two games behind Hofstra in the loss column.
• Two of Hofstra's four remaining games are against Delaware and Towson.
• The College of Charleston is also lurking behind Towson, Delaware and W&M with six conference losses too.

 
Towson's hard work, team-focused play and disciplined defense along with the steady guidance of CAA Coach of the Year candidate Pat Skerry has put it in a position of playing meaningful CAA games late in the season. As basketball players and coaches, this is something you dream of whenever you get into the sport at a high level. These are the games and opportunities you live for as a player and coach.
 
More reason why fans should come out this week is to watch two of the best players in the CAA in William & Mary's Nathan Knight and Elon's Marcus Sheffield. Towson has a dynamic duo worth the price of admission as well in Brian Fobbs and Allen Betrand.
 
Yep, it's going to be a lot of high-quality hoops at Towson this weekend.
 
Competing with a tangible sense of purpose, Towson's defense and timely performances have it in a position to do something special in a few weeks. Over its last three games, Towson is suffocating opponents by allowing 57.3 points per game on 39.4 percent shooting. The Tigers are also outrebounding their opponents by 13.3 per game.
 
In its win over James Madison, Towson held its first Division I opponent below 50 points since Northeastern scored 47 in 2016.
 
After a three-game losing streak, William & Mary captured a pair of home victories last week over Drexel and Delaware. The Tribe begin and end with Knight, a future pro. Against Delaware, Knight had 33 points and 12 rebounds for his nation's leading 21st double-double. Knight has scored 2,071 points in his career.
 
Elon has won four of its last five games after beating Drexel on Saturday. Among some of Elon's wins during this stretch was a surprising road win at the College of Charleston. Sheffield logged his third straight 20+ point outing, finishing with 24 points and four assists to lead the Phoenix past the Dragons.
 
Obviously, both William & Mary and Elon are far from one-player squads, which we will get into later this week when officially previewing both games.
 
Fans should also come out because there will be lots of free giveaways, cool prizes, and exciting interactions during each contest. Fans should come out to salute Towson University's student-athletes, who will be celebrated for their academic excellence at halftime of the William & Mary contest.
 
Fans should come out to celebrate the excellent senior trio of Nakye Sanders, Dennis Tunstall and Fobbs, who will be honored before the Elon contest. Fans should come out because Towson is also recognizing its black Hall of Famers as part of its annual black history celebration during Saturday's game. Finally, many members of the men's basketball program will be in attendance Saturday to watch the current Tigers create more memories.
 
Overall, it's going to be a fun, big and exciting week at Towson.