TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University men's basketball team has won five straight games following a 74-67 home victory over Charleston on Thursday night.
 
Towson (14-5, 5-1 CAA) engaged in a physical, back-and-forth affair vs. Charleston (9-7, 1-3 CAA).  The Tigers took an eight-point lead into the second half, going up by 10 as the Cougars numerous times got to within a possession, even leading with 10:52 to play.  Towson took back the lead with 15-4 run and held the advantage the rest of the way.
 
With the win, a first-place showdown is set for Saturday at 2 p.m. in SECU Arena as Towson battles UNCW, the only team left in the CAA that is undefeated in conference play. For more information, interested parties may contact the Towson Athletics ticket office by visiting www.towsontigers.com, calling 1-855-TU-TIGER or emailing dkogok@towson.edu.
 
Key Stats:

• Towson held Charleston to 32.8% shooting from the field, including the Cougars shooting 23.1% in the first half.  The Tigers led for 33:13 in the game.
• Nicolas Timberlake led all scorers in the game with 17 points, adding five rebounds.  Charles Thompson came up just shy of a double-double, tallying up nine points, 10 rebounds and six blocks.
• From off the bench, Juwan Gray notched 15 points, going 5-for-6 from the field, and eight rebounds.
• For the Cougars, John Meeks finished with 16 points, six rebounds and four assists.  Ben Burnham had 12 points, five boards and a pair of blocks.

How It Happened:

• Action started out fast paced by each team, but both defenses kept pace with the up-and-down play.  With Charleston having an early 4-2 lead, Towson went ahead on a 7-0 run, capped by a layup and one from Nicolas Timberlake off a hard foul, to give the Tigers a 9-4 advantage.
• Charleston knocked down a long three to end Towson's end.  The Towson man-to-man defense held the Cougars off the scoreboard for nearly three minutes, putting the lead back to six off jumpers from Juwan Gray and Jason Gibson.
• Following an exchange of threes, and a Charleston jumper, Towson kept control by forcing tough shots on its opponent.  Off an in-bound, Timberlake buried a three falling away for a 19-12 Towson advantage with 9:11 left in the 1^st.
• Towson struggled to hit long jumpers on the next couple of possessions as Charleston used the free throw line primarily to chip away at the deficit.  With a game-tying three by Ben Burnham, the Cougars took the lead off a Burnham jumper to go up 24-22.
• The Tigers finished strongly on the duo of Gray and Gibson as the pair combined for 10 points on four field goals in the final two minutes to give Towson a 32-24 lead at the break.
• Towson continued the run into the second half on the first possession with a layup from Charles Thompson as the Tigers led 34-24 off the 12-0 spurt.
• The Cougars continued their fast play and got a 7-2 run, capped by a three off a backcourt turnover from Nick Farrar, to make it 36-31 Towson at the under-16 media.
• Back-and-forth the teams went as the physical nature of the contest picked up.  Towson got back ahead by seven off a tough jumper by Timberlake.  Charleston got to the free throw line often to piece together an 8-0 run over a span of over four minutes to take a 41-40 advantage.
• Going to their guards, Towson started to knock down their jumpers, with Terry Nolan Jr. jump starting a 14-5 run, including back-to-back threes from Gibson and Timberlake.  Towson continued the attack, Thompson notched a couple of layups as the Tigers led by 10 at 63-53.
• Charleston continued to stay around with aggressive play, scoring seven straight points from Brenden Tucker to pull within three.  Gray knocked down a corner three to get Towson back ahead by two scores as the teams pushed back and forth.  With 36 seconds left to play, a John Meeks three made it a four-point again at 69-65.
• Timberlake got fouled and hit a pair of free throws.  The Towson defense held on the next possession as Timberlake hit another free throw following a foul.  Meeks hit a layup with 13 seconds left, but Towson held the lead with two more Timberlake free throws for the 74-67 victory.

Inside the Numbers

• Towson earns its first five-game winning streak since winning five in a row from Jan. 11 to Jan. 30, 2020.  That was part of a seven-game winning streak from Jan. 4 from Jan. 30.
• Towson has won its last seven games at home dating back to Nov. 16.
• With the win, Towson snaps a six-game losing streak vs. Charleston.
• Charles Thompson is the only player with at least two games with 6+ blocks under Pat Skerry.  He had seven blocks vs. William & Mary on Jan. 31, 2021. (stat courtesy of Patrick Stevens and Sports-Reference.com.)
• Nicolas Timberlake led Towson in scoring for the first time since Dec. 22 at Navy.
• Charles Thompson earned his first double digit rebounding game of the season.

Next Game:

• Towson has a quick turnaround, taking on UNCW on Saturday at 2 p.m. at SECU.  For more information, interested parties may contact the Towson Athletics ticket office by visiting www.towsontigers.com, calling 1-855-TU-TIGER or emailing dkogok@towson.edu.

- TowsonTigers.com –