CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Towson University men's basketball team engaged Charleston in one of the league's best games of the season, going back-and-forth into double overtime but narrowly falling short 90-88 on the road.
 
In a game with 10 ties and 10 lead changes, Towson had the advantage in the final seconds of regulation and in the final minute of the first overtime.  The Tigers had a chance with a final shot at the buzzer in the second overtime, but the ball rimmed out on the three-point attempt.
 
Records:

• Towson: 3-11, 2-7 CAA
• Charleston: 6-8, 4-3 CAA

Key Stats:

• Zane Martin led all players with 34 points, the season-high for all Tigers this year and three points off his career-high.  He hit 12 field goals and added four assists and five rebounds.  Charles Thompson notched a career-high 20 points off 9-for-12 shooting, adding six rebounds and three blocks.  Nicolas Timberlake put together 13 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals while Chris Beikeu finished with six points, eight rebounds and two steals.
• Charleston led by three at the half while Towson outscored the Cougars in the second half 47-44.  Towson 47-point second half is the highest scoring period this season, one more than the 46 points scored in the second period vs. UNCW on Jan. 19.
• For Charleston, Zep Jasper had 21 points and four rebounds while Osinachi Smart got a double-double off 10 points and 13 rebounds.

Postgame Quote:
Towson head coach Pat Skerry: "This was a tough loss, but the fight was good, this was high-level play with a lot of big shots made on both sides.  We still need to guard at a higher level, but we had some great individual performances today from Zane [Martin], Charles [Thompson], Chris Beikeu, now we just need to get to the point where we get 7-8 guys playing well.
 
How it Happened:

• The teams started back and forth as both tried early to establish play in the paint.  With the home team up two, back-to-back baskets from Zane Martin pushed Towson ahead 6-4.  Following a Charleston three, Nicolas Timberlake buried a three from the left wing, then Charles Thompson hit a tough turnaround floater for a 11-7 Towson advantage five minutes in.
• Charleston got back to a tie in the next couple of minutes as Towson was in a lull for several minutes.  The Tigers got back up with a 6-0 run, beginning with a thunderous dunk from Charles Thompson and later with four points in a row from Cam Allen to give Towson a 17-11 advantage with 8:34 left in the first.
• Following an exchange of field goals, Charleston continued its strategy of driving layups and dunks.  The Cougars went on a 9-2 run, then later, added another three from Brenden Tucker to lead 32-24.
• Towson held the Cougars without points for the final 2:05 of the first half.  Martin knocked down a layup and one, then Thompson hit a one-hand jumper to get Towson within three at the break as Charleston led 32-29.
• To start the half, Timberlake buried a corner three as Towson kept pace with Charleston on baskets.  The Cougars countered each time as both sides scored on its first three possessions, leading to Charleston leading 39-35, 2:15 into the second.
• Towson started going to the perimeter for its scoring, seeing Timberlake and Jason Gibson hit from long range to chip away.  At 44-39, Timberlake knocked down a three, then Thompson hit a floater from underneath.  Martin followed with back-to-back step-back threes, then a beautiful feed from Martin to Timberlake to Thompson led to a basket, capping a 13-0 run and giving the Tigers a 52-44 lead with 12:17 to play.
• Back-to-back baskets from Zep Jasper broke the Towson run.  A Martin free throw and Chris Beikeu putback rebuilt the lead to seven at 55-48 with under 10 minutes to play.
• Charleston pulled to with three, then Towson got back up eight after a layup and one from Beikeu, then a driving layup by Martin through a double team.  Score was 62-54 with 6:56 left.
• The home team chipped away, using a 5-0 run to get within one at 65-64.  Martin again got a big basket with a drive to the paint and one-hand finish, then Thompson drew the charge on the fast break attempt by Charleston.  The Cougars tied the game on the next possession on a Payton Willis three to tie the game at 67, 2:39 left.
• Following Martin free throws, Lorenzo Edwards hit a wing three to send Charleston up.  Next play, Timberlake hit the catch-and-shoot three to get Towson back the lead.  Towson held defensively on the next two possessions, adding Gibson free throws to push Towson up 74-70 with 20 seconds left.  Jasper hit three free throws, then after Thompson hit a pair of free throws, Cameron Copeland hit a three with one second left to tie the game at 76 and send the contest into overtime.
• Charleston scored first in overtime on a Jasper layup from underneath.  Towson tied the game with a Martin layup as the two sides only had one basket each in the first three minutes.  Thompson got baskets close range to get Towson's lead to three at 82-79 in the final minute.  Charleston tied the game on a Willis three, with neither side hitting a shot in the rest of the period.  Second overtime began with the score at 76-76.
• Martin breeched the 30-point mark with a layup to begin the second overtime, countered by a Jasper layup the other way.  With 2:53 left in the period, Martin hit a deep three to give Towson an 87-84 lead.  Charleston got the next six points, taking the lead on a Jasper jumper and adding two free throws.  Towson had a final chance off a missed free throw, finding Gibson in the corner.  Gibson got the shot off, but the ball rimmed out.  Charleston got the win 90-88.

Inside the Numbers:

• Zane Martin earned his fourth career 30+ point game and 28^th 20+ point game.
• This is the first game this season where Towson had a pair of 20+ point scorers.
• Martin notched double digit points for the 61^st time in his college career, and 10^th time this season, while Nicolas Timberlake gets over 10 points from the 19^th time as a Tiger and 10^th time this season. Charles Thompson earned his fifth double-figure scoring game of the season.
• This was the first double overtime game for Towson since Feb. 14, 2019 vs. Delaware, a 78-71 defeat.  It was the first game to go past regulation since Towson beat Tulane 86-82 in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 21, 2019.

Next Game:
Towson comes back to TD Arena in Charleston tomorrow for a 1 p.m. game.
 
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