TOWSON, Md. – In a thriller at SECU Arena, the Towson University men's basketball team led most of the way against William & Mary and saw Zane Martin earn his 1000^th point with the Black & Gold, but its opponent got the lead back in the final minute as the Tigers fell 75-74.
 
Towson had a seven-point lead at the half and had the advantage in over 33 minutes in the game.  After Nicolas Timberlake got a layup for a Towson lead in the final minute, Connor Kochera gave W&M the lead on a fast break layup.  A final shot for Towson came up short.
 
Records:

• Towson: 3-10, 2-6 CAA
• William & Mary: 6-7, 4-4 CAA

Key Stats:

• Zane Martin nearly earned a double-double, netting 18 points and having a season-high eight assists, earning his 1000^th point on a jump shot with 3:51 left in the 2^nd half.  Nicolas Timberlake had 15 points while Demetrius Mims put together 10 points and eight rebounds.  Charles Thompson tallied a season-high 15 rebounds and a career-high seven blocks, adding six points.
• Towson outrebounded W&M 39-38 and won the first half 39-32.  W&M had most of its scoring in the paint, scoring 52 points down low.
• W&M was led by Connor Kochera, who finished with 30 points and 12 rebounds, going 12-for-19 from the floor.  Luke Loewe had 20 points and three assists.

Postgame Quote:
Towson head coach Pat Skerry: "It was a hard-fought game.  We are disappointed, credit to William & Mary.  I thought we competed hard, but we aren't there yet, not for lack of effort.  We started to do some better things offensively, especially in the first half, but our defense has been slipping."
 
How it Happened:

• Towson got a quick start on jumpers from Demetrius Mims and Jason Gibson.  Following a couple of W&M free throws, Gibson buried a second-chance three to give Towson a 7-2 lead in the opening 2:18.
• Back and forth the teams traded for a while, with Charles Thompson throwing down a dunk with 12:55 left in the first to give Towson a 14-11 lead.  Connor Kochera countered with three baskets in a 6-2 run to push W&M ahead 17-16.
• A minute later, Jakigh Dottin knocked down a three on the left wing to put Towson back ahead.  After no scoring for 2:30, Dottin drove to the hoop and scored.  Following a W&M three, Martin, Nicolas Timberlake and Cam Allen scored in succession to build Towson's lead to seven.  Later, a Chris Biekeu jumper and a Martin three made the score 32-21 with 4:53 left in the period.
• Each side exchanged baskets to complete the half as Towson led 39-32 at the break.
• Concentrating on layup attempts, W&M pulled two within two in the opening minutes of the second.  Towson kept ahead with a three-pointer from Timberlake as the Tigers led 48-43 with 15:52 left.  Minutes later as W&M was within three, a Mims layup then a Martin basket and one put Towson's lead at eight as the Tigers led 55-47, then later 59-51.
• W&M kept attacking with driving layups.  At 64-59, a 10-0 W&M run, started by eight Kochera points, to go up 69-64 with four minutes left.
• At 71-66, back-to-back threes from Timberlane and Martin gave Towson the lead.  A layup by Loewe put the visitors back up.  With 56 seconds to go, Timberlake drove to the basket and scored for a 74-73 Towson lead.  A missed Towson shot with 18 seconds left was brought back by W&M, where Kochera scored to push W&M up.  Martin attempted a final shot in the closing seconds but came up short.  W&M got the win.

Inside the Numbers:

• Zane Martin is the 28^th player in Towson history to earn over 1,000 points.  He currently stands with 1,003 in his Towson career and 1,323 in his collegiate career, including 320 points at New Mexico.
• Charles Thompson earned the first 15+ rebound game since he did it on Nov. 8, 2019 vs. Bryn Athyn.  He had the first 5+ block game since Walter Foster had seven blocks vs. Drexel on Jan. 16, 2016.  Seven blocks are tied for the fourth-most in a single game in Towson history.
• Demetrius Mims had a career-high in rebounds with eight and earned his third double-digit scoring game of the year.
• Eight assists for Martin are the most for a Towson player in a game this season.

Next Game:
Towson heads to South Carolina next weekend for a twinbill against Charleston, beginning with a 1 p.m. game against the Cougars on Saturday, Feb. 6.
 
- TowsonTigers.com –