WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Towson University men's basketball team put together a great second half using the full-court press and strong rebounding, but came up just short in a 74-64 defeat at Wake Forest in the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) First Round on Wednesday night.
 
Towson (25-9) outscored Wake Forest (23-9) 42-31 in the second half in an effort to comeback from its halftime deficit, pulling to within single digits in the final minute, but came up short.
 
This ends Towson's winningest season in Division I history.  The Tigers earned their first-ever Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) regular season title and 25 victories to secure a berth into the NIT for the first time in program history.  The Tigers improved from just four victories in 2020-21 to 25 in 2021-22.
 
This was also Towson's second defeat to an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent by 10 points or fewer.
 
Key Stats:

• In the second half comeback attempt, Towson outrebounded Wake Forest 24-20 and scored 20 points in the paint to Wake's eight.
• In the full game, Wake Forest had a 42-34 rebounding advantage.  The key difference came from the free throw line: Wake Forest was 19-for-29 while Towson was 10-for-16.
• Charles Thompson led all Towson players in scoring with 15 points and rebounding with eight boards, adding two steals and blocks.  Jason Gibson and Nicolas Timberlake each recorded 12 points, with the latter adding eight rebounds.  Cam Holden tallied up nine points, five assists and four steals.
• For Wake Forest, Dallas Walton finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and two blocks.  Alondes Williams, the ACC Player of the Year, was held to six points, six boards and five assists.

 
How It Happened:

• Wake Forest had the early advantage on the boards, leading to a couple of putbacks for the home team.  The Demon Deacons got off to an early 7-2 lead, then Jason Gibson knocked down a wing three off a fast break to pull the Tigers within two.  Later, a Charles Thompson free throw made it 7-6 Wake, five minutes in.
• The home team kept going into the paint, leading to a 9-0 run, including a pair of dunks.  Gibson ended the run with a kick-out three to make it 16-9 Wake.
• The scoring slowed down as each defense got settled into the man-to-man.  A few of Towson's threes began to fall from Nicolas Timberlake as Towson tried to chip away.  Wake kept up the attack down low and got into a double-digit lead, with an Alondes Williams layup making the score 25-15 Wake with seven minutes to go in the first.
• Wake got its lead up to 13 as Thompson got a pair of layups to help keep Towson scoring.  Later, Juwan Gray threw down a dunk off a steal.  With Towson down 11, Wake finished the half on an 11-1 run to be up 43-22 at the break.
• Towson came out with some energy in the second half.  The Tigers begin the period outscoring Wake 6-4 in the first 3:30 of the 2^nd, with scores from three different players, to pull within 19.
• Pat Skerry's team started to push the full-court press, leading to Wake turnovers.  With Wake up 23, the Tigers notched seven straight points, capped by the third three by Gibson, to get within 16 at 51-35 Wake with just under 13 minutes remaining.
• Towson continued the run with Gibson's fourth three and a hookshot off a steal from Cam Holden.  Holding Wake without points for five minutes, Towson pulled to within 11 at 51-40 with 10:31 to play as the Tigers had a 12-0 run.
• Wake broke the drought with a transition three, which led to eight consecutive points.  Towson continued the pressure and got the deficit back down to 12 off a Holden dunk to make it 59-47 Wake with six minutes to go.
• Towson kept up the pace off the zone defense and tried to claw back into the game.  A putback by Thompson with 3:14 to play again got Towson with 11 at 67-56 Wake.
• The defenses held off each other as Wake held its lead.  In the final minute, Holden drove to the basket and hit a layup to get the Tigers within single digits.  Wake Forest held the rest of the way and took the 74-64 victory.

Inside the Numbers

• This was Towson's first-ever appearance in the National Invitational Tournament.  Towson earned a berth into the NIT as the Colonial Athletic Association regular season co-champion.
• Cam Holden finishes the season with 67 steals, tied for tenth all-time in Towson single season history.
• Three players will enter the Towson record book for 34 games started this season, tying for third all-time in Towson history: Cam Holden, Charles Thompson and Nicolas Timberlake.
• 25 victories for the team is tied for the most amount of wins for a Towson Division I team in program history.  The Tigers were 25-11 in the 2013-14 season.

- TowsonTigers.com –