TOWSON, Md. – Down four at the break, the Towson University men's basketball team used a 21-4 second half-beginning run, including a thunderous Demetrius Mims dunk, en route to a 78-74 victory and a series sweep over UNCW.
 
Towson built its lead to 15 with just under five minutes to play, shooting 60.7% in the second half to build the advantage.  The Tigers held off a late comeback attempt by the visiting Seahawks to secure the win.
 
With the victory, Towson goes to third place in the CAA in the young league season.
 
Records:

• Towson: 3-5, 2-1 CAA
• UNCW: 6-5, 0-2 CAA

Key Stats:

• Down 36-26 with two minutes left in the first half, Towson went on a 27-4 run into the second period.  In all, the Tigers scored 46 points in the second half.
• Towson shot 50.9% from the field, including 60.7% in the second period, and held UNCW to 35.9% shooting with a 30.3% rate in the second half.  Towson also went 19-for-21 from the free throw line for 90.5%.
• The Tigers also earned a +15 rebounding margin (40-25), the fourth straight game where Towson had at least a +9 rebounding margin.  This led to Towson having 38 points in the paint to UNCW's 30.
• Zane Martin's second consecutive 20+ point game earned him 24 points, six rebounds and five assists.  Charles Thompson was a machine down low with 17 points, going 7-for-8 from the free throw line, with six rebounds and two blocks.  Solomon Uyaelunmo was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field with 12 points and seven rebounds while Jason Gibson had 10 points off the bench.
• For UNCW, Mike Okauru tallied up 25 points, going 10-for-12 from the free throw line, with four assists.  Jamahri Harvey concluded with 21 points, hitting five three-point baskets.

Postgame Quote:
Towson head coach Pat Skerry: "We guarded, we rebounded, we shot 51% and hung on for dear life.  They are good, they spread you out and force you to play choppy offense.  Second half, we had really good play around the rim, and we have good players that delivered."
 
Towson forward Charles Thompson: "This win means a lot to us as we go to play Hofstra this weekend.  That [Mims] dunk put us over the top, it brought everybody together and energized us on the sideline, boosting our momentum."
 
How it Happened:

• The game started out with methodical offense as the teams were playing for the second straight day.  In a different look from last game, UNCW went for the paint early, using several players to build a 14-7 advantage in the opening seven minutes.
• Towson kept its attention on setting up layups, chipping the deficit to three after points from Charles Thompson and Jason Gibson.  UNCW kept the lead and was rebuilding that advantage back to eight.  Zane Martin charged ahead with a drive and layup at the basket followed by knocking down a three next possession to pull Towson three at 22-19 with 7:31 left in the first.
• Despite free throws from Thompson, UNCW got the lead to 10 off scoring from Jamahri Harvey.  The Tigers got some late half scoring from Thompson and Martin to pull to four, down 3-32 at the break.
• Towson went to Thompson early in the second, who hit back-to-back layups to get the Tigers to a tie game.  Following an exchange of baskets, Towson got the lead on a Solomon Uyaelunmo layup, followed by Demetrius Mims free throws.  At 44-40, the Uyaelunmo brothers each had layups, followed by an Earth-shattering transition dunk from Mims that erupted the Towson bench.  After a timeout, Nicolas Timberlake hit a three off the in-bound to send Towson to a 53-40 advantage with 11:18 to play.
• UNCW got back within single digits several times, with the Towson guards getting the lead back above 10.  With 6:07 left, Gibson buried a three to send Towson up 60-47.  Again UNCW pushed back, and again Gibson hit a three to go back to a double digit lead.  With 4:40 left, Solomon Uyaelunmo hit a layup and one to make it 68-53 Towson with 4:40 to play.
• UNCW had a push left, using nine free throws in an 11-0 run to get within four at 70-66 with 2:35 to play.  The next minute, a Ty Gadsen three-pointer brought the visitors within two.  Thompson hit a big layup with 55 seconds left, but two more free throws by Mike Okauru set up a one-possession game with 27 ticks to play.
• Following a missed one-and-one, UNCW got the rebound and rushed down the court, missing a layup but getting the rebound, calling a timeout with eight seconds left.  Joe Pridgen went for the layup and missed, with Timberlake pulling down the rebound.  Timberlake was fouled and hit both free throws to seal the game.  Towson won 78-74.

Inside the Numbers:

• With a pair of 20+ point performances vs. UNCW, Zane Martin combined for 45 points vs. the Seahawks.
• This is the first time where Towson has won games on back-to-back days since Dec. 1-2, 2017 in Northern Ireland: Towson defeated La Salle 67-60 on Dec. 1 and followed with a 56-55 win over Manhattan on Dec. 2.  It is the first time Towson won back-to-back games at home since Nov. 29-30, 2013, an 84-59 win over The Citadel followed by a 74-47 victory over Abilene Christian the next day.
• In each win over UNCW, four Towson players netted double figure points.
• Towson is now 3-1 in SECU Arena this season.
• Towson has won its last five contests against UNCW, sweeping this season's series with a 72-69 victory yesterday.
• Combined in the last four games, Towson has a +58 rebounding margin.
• Pat Skerry earned his 146^th victory at Towson with today's win.

Next Game:
Towson hits the road to continue CAA play, taking on defending league champion Hofstra on Saturday, Jan. 23 at 2 p.m. on Long Island.
 
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