TOWSON, Md. – In glory, you see what a team is capable of, but in the hard times of adversity you see what a team is made of.
Coming off of a disappointing setback less than 48 hours earlier, the Towson men's basketball team shot 50 percent, had 17 assists, placed five players in double figures and filled the basket with thunderous dunks during an 84-71 victory over Elon in a Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) contest at SECU Arena Saturday.
The resilient Tigers displayed heart and character in winning their 17th game of the season, earning a first-round bye in the CAA Tournament and sweeping Elon in a season series for the first time since 2016. Towson will open the CAA Tournament on Sunday, March 8 at the Entertainment & Sports Arena, home of the 2019 WNBA champion Washington Mystics, against an opponent to be determined.
Towson used a total team effort to make sure that seniors
Brian Fobbs,
Nakye Sanders and
Dennis Tunstall's final appearance at SECU Arena was one to savor.
With the Tigers ahead by a comfortable margin, the Tiger seniors were removed from the game at 3:56 p.m. Eastern Time. First it was Sanders followed by Fobbs and then Tunstall. They all shared a long and warm embrace with head coach
Pat Skerry before greeting their teammates and coaches on the bench.
From Tunstall's opening alley-oop dunk to
Charles Thompson's early rim-rocker to Fobbs' terrific open court flush after a tremendous steal, save and no-look over-the-shoulder SportsCenter Top 10-worthy heave from freshman
Jason Gibson to
Nicolas Timberlake's finishing flush late in the game, the surgeons of slam created lots of highlights.
Gibson was the connective tissue on both ends of the floor unifying the Tiger machine. He scored 19 points, grabbed five rebounds and had four assists. Gibson gave the Tigers the lead for good, 6-4 with 17:17 remaining in the first half. He made his first three 3-pointers to help Towson sprint to a 26-11 bulge less than nine minutes into the game.
Fobbs added 19 points and seven rebounds. Sanders tallied 11 of his 14 points in the second half. He also finished with six rebounds for the 20th time this season.
Allen Betrand and Timberlake scored 12 points each. Tunstall and Timberlake had four assists each to lead a balanced Towson attack.
Of course, the fuel for any Towson victory is its defense and for much of the game, it turned out the lights on Elon's 3-point shooting. Elon entered the game leading the CAA and ranked eighth in the NCAA in 3-pointers made per game. Even though they reached their average of 10.1, the Phoenix made three of their first 22 attempts before finding their stroke late after Towson had stretched its lead to 18 points.
Records
Elon 11-19, 7-10
Towson 17-12, 10-6
Quotable
Skerry on the victory.
"Big win for us. It says a lot about our kids, especially these seniors. To have a hard-fought tough loss on Thursday night and then to battle back like this against a team as hot as any in our league, they had won five out of six, is a good team win."
Skerry on his seniors.
"I love these guys. It's been a privilege to coach them at home. They all played well today from Dennis having a career high four assists for a forward which is unbelievable to Nakye's last 10 minutes and Brian was good. He is the horse that pulls the wagon. He knows how to strain. Good team win."
Inside the Numbers
- This was the sixth time under Skerry that Towson has won at least 17 regular season games.
- This is the fifth time under Skerry that Towson has won at least 10 CAA contests and first time since 2017.
- This was Towson's 12th double-digit victory this season.
- Towson is only CAA team not to be involved in a conference game this season decided by four points or less.
- Towson attempted a season best 32 free throws.
- This was the ninth time this season that Towson made at least nine 3-pointers.
- The 17 assists was the fifth time this year that the Tigers finished with at least 15 dimes.
- Towson recorded assists on its first nine baskets.
- The Tigers used an early 9-0 run to turn a 4-3 deficit into a 12-4 lead six minutes into the game.
- Towson has had a scoring run of nine or more consecutive points in 20 games this season.
- The Tigers outrebounded Elon 21-8 in the second half.
- Fobbs upped his career scoring total to 1,023 points and moved past Mark Cooley into 26th place on the all-time Towson scoring list.
- Fobbs has scored in double figures 25 times this season and 52 for his career.
- Fobbs has grabbed at least seven rebounds in three straight games.
- Betrand reached double figures for the 22nd this season and the 26th time in his career.
- This was the 14th time this season that Betrand has made at least two 3-pointers in a game.
- This was the ninth time this season that Sanders reached double figures and the 28th time in his career.
- Gibson tallied double digits for the ninth time this season.
- Tunstall notched his 117th career blocked shot.
- This was Timberlake's fifth game in double figures and ninth in his career.
- Marcus Sheffield got 18 points and seven rebounds to lead Elon.
- Simon Wright (13 points), Hunter Woods (11) and Chuck Hannah (10) also reached double figures for the Phoenix.
Up Next
- Towson concludes its regular season on the road beginning with a trip to Hofstra on Thursday at 7 p.m.
- Hofstra has won eight consecutive games.
