The Game: Towson (1-4, 0-0 CAA) vs. James Madison (5-4, 0-0 CAA)
When: Jan. 16^th – 2 p.m.
Where: SECU Arena – Towson, Md.
Online Broadcast ($): FloSports/FloHoops
Radio: Towsontigers.com
----Broadcaster: Spiro Morekas, 30^th season
Series: JMU leads 35-19
 
TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University men's basketball team is back and returns to the court on Saturday, Jan. 16 for its Colonial Athletic Association home opener against James Madison at 2 p.m.
 
The game will be broadcast online on FloSports.com with Spiro Morekas on the call.  Morekas will also have the radio call on TowsonTigers.com.
 
Virtual season tickets are available now; get your personalized fan cutout today!  Contact Joshua Behringer at 410-704-3330 or jbehringer@towson.edu.
 
This game is a rescheduled contest, originally supposed to be played on Jan. 3.  It is the conference opener for each Towson and JMU.  The return game in Harrisonburg, Virginia has been scheduled for Jan. 27.
 
Towson will be playing its first game since Dec. 26, a 78-73 home win over Baltimore-rival Coppin State, to enter Saturday at 1-4 overall.  JMU has won its last two games, coming off a 100-76 victory over Chowan at home, to stand at 5-4.
 
Rivals in the CAA since the 2001-02 season, Towson and JMU have played at least twice a year in that span.  JMU leads the all-time series 35-19, but Towson took both meetings last season: a 69-61 home win on Jan. 18, 2020 and a 63-48 road victory in Harrisonburg on Feb. 15, 2020.
 
The Tigers will play the next three league games at home, hosting UNCW on Jan. 18 and 19, each at 2 p.m.
 
MARTIN EARNS PRESEASON ALL-CAA FIRST TEAM
Zane Martin's return to Towson has been noticed by the league as he was named to the 2020-21 Preseason All-CAA First Team in the preseason.
 
Coming back to Towson for this year, Martin averaged 10.1 points and 3.1 assists a contest last year with New Mexico, including 16 double-digit scoring contests.
 
It is the second straight year where Towson placed a player on the Preseason All-CAA First Team, with Brian Fobbs landing on the 2019-20 team.
 
His last year with Towson in 2017-18, Martin earned All-CAA Second Team after averaging 19.8 points per game.
 
TOWSON PREDICTED TO FINISH FOURTH IN CAA
Towson was predicted to get fourth in the CAA in the league's preseason poll, voted on by the conference's head coaches, SIDs and media, including four first-place votes.
 
This past year, Towson concluded at 19-13, the fourth time in the last five seasons with at least 18 victories.  The Tigers went 12-6 in the league for a third place finish, its third top-three finish in conference play in the last five seasons.
 
Reigning league champion Hofstra was predicted to finish first in the preseason coaches poll, with Delaware and Drexel second and third respectively.  The rest of the poll was filled out in order by Elon, Charleston, Northeastern, UNCW, JMU and William & Mary.
 
SKERRY APPROACHING 150 WINS AT TOWSON
Pat Skerry, who is in his 10th season at the helm of the Tigers, is quickly approaching his 150th victory as the team's head coach.
 
Currently, Skerry has amassed 144 victories at Towson, including six years of at least 18 wins since the 2012-13 season.
 
Skerry is looking to be the third Towson men's basketball head coach with over 150 wins.  Vince Angotti won 229 games as Towson's head coach from 1966-83 while Terry Truax notched 202 wins with the Tigers from 1983-97.  Skerry is also the third longest-tenured coach in Towson history.
 
Including two seasons leading Curry from 1996-98, Skerry has 167 wins as a head coach.  His teams have won double digit victories in 11 out of 12 seasons as a head coach.
 
REPPING THE HOME STATE
Towson's represents its home of the Old Line State well, having seven players from Maryland on the roster.
 
Baltimore Poly's own Demetrius Mims came back to Charm City after a year at Long Beach State and is eligible after sitting out 2019-20.
 
From Severna Park comes Jason Gibson, who earned All-CAA Rookie Team honors after averaging 8.4 points and 2.1 assists a game last year.  Charles Thompson, from Fort Washington, was one of the first forwards off the bench in 2019-20 with 3.2 points and 3.7 rebounds a contest.  Joining the team this year is Curtis Holland III, a Churchton native transferring after two seasons at High Point.
 
Three more Tigers call the state of Maryland home: Chris Caliguiran from Accokeek, Greg Cross from Silver Spring and Justin Patterson from Bowie.
 
WELCOME BACK ZANE!
After two years at New Mexico, Zane Martin has returned to the Black & Gold as a redshirt senior.  In his sophomore season with Towson, the Philadelphia-native earned All-CAA Second Team, NABC All-District 10 Second Team and a place on the Lou Henson Award Midseason Watch List after averaging 19.8 points a game, including double digit scoring in 30 of 32 games.
 
So far this season, Martin is Towson's top scorer with 14.2 points per game, including a pair of 25+ point outings at the Mohegan Sun Arena Bubbleville.
 
ARRIVING IN TOWSON......
Towson has seven players who have come to Towson from other NCAA programs.
--#0 Curtis Holland III, transfer from High Point (2018-20)
--#1 Demetrius Mims, transfer from Long Beach State (2018-19)
--#2 Zane Martin, transfer from New Mexico (2018-20)
--#3 Cam Allen, grad transfer from CSU Bakersfield (2019-20)
--#12 Juwan Gray, transfer from San Diego (2016-18)
--#24 Greg Cross, transfer from Fayetteville State (2017-18)
--#34 Victor Uyaelunmo, transfer from USC (2017-19)
 
CAN I GET AN ASSIST?
Towson's primary two point guards and leaders in assists in the 2019-20 campaign, Jakigh Dottin and Jason Gibson, are back with the Black & Gold this year.
 
Dottin has earned at least 60 assists in each of his first two seasons, including a team-high 69 last year as a sophomore, and stands with 132 in his Towson career.
 
Gibson broke into the starting lineup as a freshman and notched 68 assists his first year, helping him land on the CAA All-Rookie Team.  He has four assists so far this year for 72 in his career.
 
ATTACK THE GLASS
Towson stands with the second-best rebounding margin in the CAA at +2.8.  Towson is looking to have the league's top rebounding margin for the seventh consecutive year.
 
Four Tigers: Victor Uyaelunmo (5.8), Zane Martin (5.0), Juwan Gray (4.6) and Charles Thompson (4.6) are ranked in the top-21 in rebounds per game in the league.
 
In 2019-20, Towson led the CAA with a +5.5 rebounding margin.  The last six seasons, the Tigers have averaged at least +5.0 on rebounding margin.
 
SECU ARENA - TRUE HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
Since SECU Arena opened in 2013, Towson has defended home court well with a 67-33 record in home games.  Towson won its home opener 78-73 vs. Coppin State.
 
Of the first seven years, Towson has won at least two-thirds of its games in five seasons. The 2013-14, the opening year of SECU, Towson went 15-1.
 
OH BROTHER
Set to play this year in the Towson frontcourt are the Uyaelunmo brothers, Solomon and Victor, natives of Nigeria.
 
Solomon was granted a redshirt season last year after being injured early.  He played 30 games as a freshman in 2018-19, averaging 4.8 points and 3.8 rebounds a contest.
 
Victor sat out 2019-20 after transferring in from USC and is a redshirt junior.  He is Towson's leading rebounder with 5.8 boards a contest.
 
BRING BACK THE SIXTH MAN
Nicolas Timberlake is back for Towson after earning 2019-20 CAA Sixth Man of the Year honors in his redshirt freshman campaign.
 
Playing in 28 games off the bench last year, Timberlake averaged 6.1 points and 3.5 rebounds a game. He scored 19 points in the season opener vs. Virginia and is averaging 13.4 points per game.
 
ALUMNI PLAYING IN THE PROS
Towson currently has several alumni playing in the professional ranks across the world.
   
Arnaud William Adala Moto '17, a member of the Cameroon National team, signed with TAU Castello in Spain and has also played in France.
 
Brian Starr '18 signed with Budo Gemlik Basketbol in Turkey after playing two years with COR-Borisfen in Belarus.
 
Two Towson players competed in The Tournament this past summer.  Four McGlynn '15 helped Sideline Cancer reach the final game, narrowly coming short of the title.  Jerrelle Benimon '14 was one of the top players for Team Hines, the 11-seed of the tournament.
 
Several of Towson players under Skerry have played professionally: Adala Moto, Starr, McGlynn, Benimon, Mike Burwell, Marcus Damas, John Davis,  Bilal Dixon, Alex Gavrilovic, Mike Morsell and Timajk Parker-Rivera.  Graduate manager Gary Neal '07 played nine years in the NBA.
 
Tigers in the Community
The Towson University athletics department deems community service as one of its highest priorities to give back to the Greater Baltimore area.
 
Towson was on track to have its 8th consecutive year of over 10,000 hours of community service in 2019-20 before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down all activity.  Towson finished with 7,527 hours last year, good for third in the NCAA Teamworks Helper Helper competition.
   
Towson ranked #1 nationally for community service and won the 2018 National Championship for Community Service through the Helper Helper NCAA Team Works Competition.  Towson also won the 2018 Volunteer of the Year Award from Susan G. Komen of Maryland.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT:
James Madison is the highest scoring team in the CAA at 80.4 points per contest.  CAA Preseason Player of the Year and senior guard Matt Lewis is the top scorer in the league, averaging 21.7 points a game and shooting 50.8% from the field.  Freshman Terrence Edwards is the top rebounder with 5.6 boards and 6.3 points a contest.
 
SERIES INFORMATION:
Towson vs. JMU: JMU leads 35-19
--Towson Record at Home: Towson leads 13-12
--Last time: Towson 63, James Madison 48
(2/15/20 - Harrisonburg, Va.)
Towson's top defensive performance against a DI opponent in the 2019-20 season and a +12-point first half led to a 63-48 victory over the Dukes.  Two Tigers nearly notched double-doubles: Brian Fobbs had 14 points and nine rebounds while Dennis Tunstall tallied eight points, eight boards and four blocks.  Matt Lewis finished with half of JMU's scoring, finishing with 24 points off 6-10 three-point shooting.
Last five games:
2/15/20 - Harrisonburg, Va. - Towson 63-48
1/18/20 - Towson, Md. - Towson 69-61
3/9/19 - North Charleston, S.C. - JMU 74-73
2/9/19 - Towson, Md. - Towson 66-59
1/12/19 - Harrisonburg, Va. - JMU 74-65
 
ALL HOME GAMES TO AIR ON FLOSPORTS
For the 2020-21 season, all Towson men's and women's home games will be broadcast online on FloSports, the official broadcast partner of the Colonial Athletic Association.  Nearly all CAA conference games will be broadcast on FloSports.
 
Spiro Morekas, the voice of the Towson Tigers, enters his 30th season calling games for the men's basketball team.