TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University men's basketball team used its best defensive performance of the season to knock off the Colonial Athletic Association's first-place team Northeastern 68-57.
 
The Tigers held Northeastern to 57 points, the season-low for a Towson opponent this year, and 35.7% shooting.  Towson took the lead with 8:12 left in the first half and led the entire season period to take the victory.
 
Records:

• Towson: 4-13, 3-9 CAA
• Northeastern: 9-7, 8-2 CAA

Key Stats:

• Nicolas Timberlake earned a career-high 22 points, playing every second of this game.  Charles Thompson had his third double-double of the year off 11 points and 11 boards while Jakigh Dottin tallied a season-high 13 points, adding five rebounds and four assists.
• Towson won the battle in the paint with 30 points to Northeastern's 24 plus had a +9 rebounding margin (38-29).
• For Northeastern, Tyson Walker had 16 points and three assists despite five turnovers. 

Postgame Quote:
Towson head coach Pat Skerry: "We had a great win over a well-coached team that may be the best in the league.  I'm as proud as I've been in 10 years of this group today, they found a way to get through it.  We got back to defending and rebounding, which is normally our identity."
 
How it Happened:

• In the early minutes, a personal 7-0 run by Jason Gibson gave Towson a 9-4 lead.  Following a Jason Strong three, a tough layup by Solomon Uyaelunmo and a Demetrius Mims free throw gave Towson a 12-7 lead six-and-a-half minutes in.
• Scoring remained slow as each defense played strong early.  A 6-0 Northeastern run, including two Tyson Walker layups, gave the visitors the lead 15-14 with 9:14 left in the first half.
• Towson burst back ahead with seven straight points, capped by a three from Nicolas Timberlake.  Again Northeastern pushed back to get within one.  In the final five minutes of the half, Towson held the Huskies to one field goal, leading to a 9-1 run and a 30-22 halftime lead.
• The pace picked up in the second half, but Towson maintained its advantage.  Three free throws in succession by Timberlake built the home team lead to 13 at 37-24 with 17:28 to play.
• Shaquille Walters got Northeastern back within striking distance, hitting a trio of jumpers during a run to get the Huskies within four with nine minutes to play.
• Towson countered by focusing primarily on its bread-and-butter tactics, going inside.  This led to 14 consecutive points, seeing contributions from four different players, to get the lead to 57-39 with five minutes left.
• NU had one final push, netting three consecutive three-pointers in a span of 76 seconds to get back within single digits.  Baskets by Charles Thompson and free throws by Dottin kept Towson well ahead as the Tigers took the victory 68-57.

Inside the Numbers:

• Nicolas Timberlake surpassed his former career-high of 19 points vs. Virginia on Nov. 25.  Jakigh Dottin was one point shy of his career-high, having 14 points vs. Regent on Feb. 12, 2020.
• This is the lowest amount of points allowed by Towson in a game since Feb. 15, 2020, a 63-48 win for the Tigers at James Madison.

Next Game:
Towson heads to Philadelphia for its next two games, taking on Drexel on Saturday, Feb. 20 at 1 p.m.
 
- TowsonTigers.com –