TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University men's basketball team rallied in the second half with 45 points to pull within a couple of possessions late but came up short against William & Mary 84-74 on Saturday afternoon.
 
Towson used a 17-2 run in a span of 4:20 in a valiant effort to get back in the game to be down by a couple of possessions, but William & Mary held for the win.
 
Records:

• Towson: 3-9, 2-5 CAA
• William & Mary: 5-7, 3-4 CAA

Key Stats:

• Jason Gibson earned his second 20+ point game in a row, getting 22 points, one shy of his career-high, including going 6-for-11 from the three-point line.  Zane Martin netted 16 points and had two steals while Nicolas Timberlake finished with 15 points and two steals.  Charles Thompson led all players with 12 rebounds, adding six points and three blocks.
• Towson's 45-point second half is the second-highest scoring period of the season, just behind the 46 points scored vs. UNCW in the second half on Jan. 19.
• The Tigers outrebounded W&M 35-31 in the game, leading to 19 second chance points to W&M's four.  Towson knocked down 11 three-pointers, the most in a game this year.
• W&M saw strong success down low with 46 points in the paint.  Connor Kochera shot 9-for-12 from the field for 23 points while Quinn Blair concluded with 19 points and six rebounds.

How it Happened:

• The game started out back-and-forth as Towson struck first on a putback by Demetrius Mims.  W&M used a 6-0 run before the first media, with Towson countering on its own six-point streak, capped from a Zane Martin layup off a turnover to make it 10-10 in the opening 6:24.
• W&M got the next 13 points, including five points from Mehkel Harvey, to go up 23-10.  Mims stopped the run with a layup, but W&M got the lead to 15 at 27-12 with 8:15 left in the first.
• Towson tried to claw back in, beginning with a three-pointer from Jason Gibson, but W&M kept the advantage.  Late points from Chris Biekeu and Martin helped Towson, but late points from Luke Loewe made it 44-29 W&M at the break.
• Continuing its play on layups and three-point shots, W&M built the lead to 20 shortly into the second half.  Martin went on a personal 5-0 run in the next minute, but again W&M used its paint play to push the advantage to 21.  Martin again hit a pair of consecutive shots for five points, but Connor Kochera led W&M to go up 25 at 69-44 with 10:16 left.
• At 73-50 with 8:37 left, Towson began a strong push using its pressure defense.  Gibson sparked a 9-0 run with a deep three and a driving layup.  Following a couple of W&M free throws, a Nicolas Timberlake three followed by second chance points from Charles Thompson, Beikeu and Gibson brought Towson within eight at 75-67 with 4:30 to play.
• After a exchange of baskets, W&M got back to double digits with free throws.  Timberlake brought the deficit to nine off his own free throws, but Towson could not get closer.  W&M took the victory 84-74.

Inside the Numbers:

• Jason Gibson has combined for 45 points in his last two games, including a career-high 23 points on Wednesday night at James Madison.
• With 16 points today, Zane Martin is 15 points away from 1,000 in his Towson career.
• 12 rebounds for Charles Thompson are his season-high and his third game with double digit rebounds.
• Nicolas Timberlake has scored in double digits in eight games this season.

Next Game:
Towson comes back to SECU Arena tomorrow to challenge W&M at 1 p.m.
 
- TowsonTigers.com –