When:	Thursday, February 20, 2020
Where	SECU Arena -- Towson, Md.
Time:	7 p.m.
Records:	Towson (16-11, 9-5); William & Mary (18-10, 10-5)
Television/Internet:	FloSports
Radio:	CBS Sports Radio 1300 AM
Series History:	W&M, 21-19
Streak/Last Meeting:	Towson W1/70-58 on 1-25-20 at W&M.
Social Media Updates:	@Towson_MBB

TOWSON, Md. – Entering the penultimate week of the 2019-20 regular season, the Towson University men's basketball team will have a huge say in the denouement of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) regular season standings.

When the CAA men's basketball polls were released in October, Towson was picked to finish sixth and William & Mary was picked seventh.
 
Fortunately polls don't determine a team's destiny as evidenced by the current standings.

W&M is a half-game ahead of Towson and Delaware in second place in the congested conference standings.
 
The Tribe have three games left while Towson and Delaware have four contests to play, including a game each against Hofstra, which has a 1.5-game lead over William & Mary and two-game cushion over Towson and Delaware.
 
Got all that?
 
So there's a lot on the line when the Tribe make their annual trek to Towson. The Tigers never trailed in the first meeting and subdued the Tribe behind a combined 54 points from Jason Gibson, Allen Betrand and Brian Fobbs.
 
This is a biggie between a pair of teams that have exceeded everybody else's expectations except their own. Both squads confidently believed they would be playing meaningful conference games late in the season regardless of what the preseason polls predicted.
 
Promotions

• First 500 students will receive a gold t-shirt.
• Aspen Heights T-Shirt Toss
• Halftime Student Athlete Recognition
• Beats Headphones – Most Spirited Student
• Students have chance to win $50 Gift Card
• If we get 1,200 students in attendance, Director of Athletics Tim Leonard will have his head shaved on the court during the game.

 
The First Meeting

• Jason Gibson scored a career-high 21 points off 7-for-12 shooting in Towson's 70-58 victory. 
• Brian Fobbs netted 17 points, adding five rebounds and three assists while Allen Betrand tallied 16 points, also shooting 7-for-12 from the field.
• Up front, Dennis Tunstall blocked four shots, grabbed eight rebounds and forced two steals, adding two points. 
• Nakye Sanders finished up with nine points, three assists and six boards.
• As a team, Towson outrebounded the Tribe 31-24 and held the home team to 34.8% shooting in the second half. 
• In total, Towson shot 53.1% on field goals, including 63% in the opening half, and held W&M to 44%, including 19% on three-point shooting. 
• The Tigers also took advantage of 12 second chance points, allowing just two to the Tribe.
• For W&M, Nathan Knight was the leading scorer with 20 points and tied for the team rebounding lead with six.  Andy Van Vilet concluded with 10 points and six rebounds.

 
Starting Five

• Towson has won three straight games and 10 of its last 12.
• The Tigers have led by double figures at some point in seven straight home games.
• Towson has held two consecutive opponents below 60 points.
• The Tigers have won 11 games this season by double digits.
• After beginning the season with six straight conference wins, William & Mary has won four of its last nine games.
• William & Mary is receiving votes in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll.

 
Towson Update

• The Tigers beat James Madison, 63-48, last Saturday.
• Fobbs enters the game with 989 career points.
• Fobbs has scored in double figures in 50 of 59 career contests.
• Nicolas Timberlake has finished with at least five rebounds in four straight games.
• Tunstall is eighth all-time in blocked shots with 113.
• Tunstall has 34 games in which he's had multiple blocked shots.
• Betrand has scored in double figures in the second half of 12 games this season.
• Betrand is second in the CAA in free-throw percentage (87.2), ninth in 3-point field goal percentage (40.2) and 11th in scoring (14.5).
• Sanders is sixth in the CAA in offensive rebounds (2.1) and eighth in rebounding (6.5).
• Fobbs is sixth in the CAA in free throw percentage (83.6) and 10th in scoring (15.9).
• Fobbs has 30 career games in which he's made at least two or more 3-pointers.
• Tunstall is tied for second in the CAA in blocked shots (1.3), fourth in offensive rebounding (2.4) and 10th in rebounding (5.9).

 
A Look At William & Mary 

• The Tribe beat Drexel and Delaware last weekend at home.
• In win over Delaware, senior Nathan Knight had 33 points and 12 rebounds for his nation's leading 21st double-double.
• In eight career games against the Tigers, Knight has averaged 16.6 points and 6.6 rebounds.
• He has one career double-double against Towson.
• Knight was named the Lute Olsen National Player of the Week and the CAA Player of the Week after averaging 30.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and five blocked shots per game in wins over Drexel and Delaware.
• Knight is 10th on the CAA's career blocked shots list (216), 14th on the league's career scoring list (2,071) and 15th on the rebounding list (932).
• This season, Knight is one of only two players nationally averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds per game. He ranks 11th nationally at 10.9 rebounds per game and 16th in scoring at 21.2 per contest.
• Andy Van Vliet (13.5 points) and Luke Loewe (10.4) are also double digit scorers for the Tribe.
• Van Vliet leads the Tribe with 45 3-pointers.
• Bryce Barnes averages 3.3 assists per game after dishing out seven against Delaware.

 
Up Next

• Towson concludes its 2019-20 home schedule by hosting Elon on Saturday at 2 p.m.
• Towson will celebrate its senior trio of Fobbs, Tunstall and Sanders along with manager Justin Kortick.