ELON, N.C. – The Towson University men's basketball team used a 14-point halftime lead and 24 points from Nicolas Timberlake to hold off Elon 66-62 on the road for its fourth consecutive victory.
 
Towson (14-7, 6-2 CAA) rallied down eight in the first half with a 13-0 run to surge ahead, eventually taking a 40-26 lead into the break.  The Tigers held the lead the rest of the way, despite the home team getting to within two in the final minute, against Elon (2-18, 0-7 CAA) with key free throws down the stretch.
 
With the win, Towson moves into a three-way tie for second place in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) with Drexel and Hofstra.
 
Key Stats:

• The Tigers held Elon to 38.5% on field goals.  Towson is 9-0 this season when holding its opponent to below 40% shooting.
• Towson shot 8-for-15 from three in the first half.
• Nicolas Timberlake led the way with 24 points, including 14 points in the first half, going 5-for-9 from the perimeter.  Cam Holden tallied 13 points, six rebounds and four assists while Charles Thompson came just shy of a double-double on 10 points and nine rebounds.
• For Elon, Jerald Gillens-Butler finished with 14 points while Max Mackinnon had 12 points, five rebounds and four steals.

How It Happened:

• Elon got the early advantage after drawing contact on shots in the paint.  The home team began the game on an 8-0 run, started by points off fouls then capped by a three by Jerald Gillens-Butler.
• Ryan Conway ended Elon's game-opening run with a three from the corner.  After Elon built its lead to nine, Nygal Russell buried the three in front of the home team bench to make it 12-6 Phoenix with 14 minutes left in the first.
• Towson continued its attack from the perimeter with Nicolas Timberlake knocking down a three to counter an Elon three.  Next possession, Towson spread out the Elon defense to free up Charles Thompson for a thunderous dunk to pull Towson within four at 15-11 Elon eight minutes into the half.
• At 18-11, Towson increased the pressure on defense and got strong play in the paint.  The Tigers earned a 13-0 run over five minutes, begun by Cam Holden free throws and finished by three-point baskets by Christian May and Holden to surge Towson into the lead 24-18.
• Elon got back to within two, then Towson countered as Nicolas Timberlake hit a pull-up jumper then a kick-out three. May continued the streak after being hacked on a putback attempt, knocking down two free throws to build Towson's lead to nine at 31-22 with four minutes to go in the half.
• Timberlake continued to be hot on the pressure, hitting a top-of-the-arc three, then stealing the ball the other way, sprinting down the floor and scoring the layup while fouled.  Towson led 36-24 at the final first half media timeout.
• The Tigers added four points in the final 23 seconds of the first, including another three-pointer from Russell, to lead 40-26 at the break.
• Action was fast-paced in the early part of the second half.  Baskets went back and forth, with field goals by Thompson and Timberlake countering points from Gillens-Butler.  A tough layup from Thompson with 15:16 left to play gave Towson a 47-35 advantage.
• Elon got back to within eight off a couple of Max Mackinnon layups.  Rahdir Hicks found Holden on a bounce pass for the layup and one to push Towson back ahead by double digits at 50-39 with 12:19 left.
• The home team would chip away, then Towson countered back several times.  After Elon got to within seven, Sekou Sylla got hit in the paint and knocked down two free throws, then Holden got a tip-in off a third chance possession.
• Elon again got to within six off several free throws, and again, Russell came up big with a three to return Towson's advantage to nine.  Again Elon pushed on play down low to get to within five, then Thompson hit a second chance layup to give Towson a 59-52 advantage with five minutes to play.
• As Elon looked to come back and again got to five, Timberlake again came through with a deep three from the right wing.  Elon continued to push with attacks in the paint, pulling to within four with two minutes to go.
• Towson's man-to-man defense held off a pair of Elon possessions, but Mackinnon hit a fast break layup to get the home team within two points with 8.1 seconds left.  Timberlake got fouled on the in-bound and hit both free throws on the one-and-one.  Sean Halloran got a layup with 1.7 seconds left.  Holden found Timberlake on the in-bound across half-court as the Braintree, Mass. native hit two free throws to seal the game.  Towson took the win 66-62.

Inside the Numbers

• Towson has won five of its last six matchups against Elon.
• The Tigers are a perfect 3-0 this season in games in the state of North Carolina, including victories over UNCG and North Carolina A&T.
• Nicolas Timberlake moved into 15^th all-time in scoring in Towson history with 1,278 career points.  He passed Brian Barber, who had 1,259 points from 1997-2001, tonight.
• Nicolas Timberlake tied his season-high for points in a CAA game tonight.  It is his seventh 20+ point game, being three points shy of his career-high of 27 points, accomplished at UMass on Nov. 10, 2022.
• Charles Thompson has grabbed at least eight rebounds in four of his last five games.

Next Game:

• Towson returns to SECU Arena to host Northeastern on Thursday, Jan. 26 at 7 p.m.
• For ticket 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.