SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Towson men's basketball battled back from a double-digit deficit to within seven points, but the Jackrabbits pulled away late in a 61-48 loss for the Tigers on Friday night. Freshman Tyler Tejada led the Tigers with 13 points, adding six rebounds.

Towson (3-5) outrebounded South Dakota State (4-4) 41-35 in the contest with Tomiwa Sulaiman adding 10 points and five rebounds.

Key Stats:

• Towson collected 19 offensive rebounds and scored 16 second chance points.
• Charles Thompson led the Tigers with nine rebounds. Messiah Jones added nine points in the loss with five rebounds.

How It Happened:

• Towson got out to an early lead after Tyler Tejada hit the opening bucket of the game and Charles Thompson beat the buzzer just before the under 16 media timeout.
• The Jackrabbits would respond with a 4-0 run to take a four-point lead and force a Towson timeout.
• The Tigers would go on a nearly seven-minute scoreless streak toward the end of the half before Tyler Tejada hit a put back off his own miss to end the drought. Towson would trail 27-17 at the break with Tejada leading the Tigers with seven points. 12 of the 17 first half points for the Tigers came in the paint.
• Tejada would open the second half hitting a three on the wing to cut the deficit to seven. However, the Jackrabbits would rip off a 7-0 run to force a Towson timeout early in the half.
• Tomiwa Sulaiman would end the run with a tough reverse layup off a timeout. He would hit a corner three with the shot clock winding down to go on a 5-0 run of his own.
• Towson would find their shooting stroke midway through the half. Dylan Williamson would can a pair of triples to cut the deficit to 50-41 at the under eight timeout.
• The Tigers would trim the Jackrabbits lead to seven late, but South Dakota State held off the comeback effort, defeating the Tigers 61-48 on Friday night.

Inside the Numbers:

• Jaiden Cole made his first appearance for the Tigers off the bench. Cole had been out with an injury to start the season and logged three minutes in his first collegiate game.
• Charles Thompson moved into a tie for fourth in games played at 125 and is now two shy of tying hall of famer Eddie Keith for third. Thompson is now also fifth in rebounds with 794 and eighth in starts with 91.
• This is the fifth time Towson has outrebounded their opponent and are 3-2 in those contests.

Next Game:

• The Tigers will return home to take on A10 foe Massachusetts at TU Arena. Tipoff with the Minutemen is slated for 7 p.m. and will air on Monumental Sports Network and FloHoops with Spiro Morekas and Jimmy Patsos on the call.