The Game: Towson Tigers (15-10, 8-4 CAA) vs. William & Mary Tribe (8-17, 3-9 CAA)
When: Thursday, February 15 – 7:00 p.m.
Where: Kaplan Arena – Willamsburg, Va..
Broadcast: Broadcast on FloHoops, audio broadcast on TowsonTigers.com (Spiro Morekas)
Series: William & Mary leads 24-22
TOWSON, Md. – Towson men's basketball will hit the road for a pair of contests this weekend starting at William & Mary on Thursday night. The Tigers are coming off a convincing 80-55 win against Elon on Monday night. Freshman
Tyler Tejada led the charge with 17 points with
Charles Thompson adding 10 points and 12 rebounds in the win.
The game against the Tribe will air on FloHoops. Spiro Morekas will have the audio call on TowsonTigers.com.
This will be the 47
th all-time meeting between the two schools with the Tribe holding a narrow 24-22 lead in the all-time series. The two teams split the season series last year with each team winning at home. The Tigers have won three of the last four contests.
LEADER OF THE PACK:
The reigning Skip Prosser Man of the Year,
Pat Skerry enters his 13
th season on the sidelines leading the Tigers. Skerry and the Tigers are coming off another 20-win season that saw Towson reach the Coast Athletic Association (CAA) Semifinals, finishing third in the standings during the regular season.
The Massachusetts native has rebuilt the Tiger program, which has the highest Graduation Success Rate (GSR) in the CAA. Over the last ten seasons, Towson has won 18+ games seven times. He is currently second all-time in wins with 208 at Towson.
Skerry has used his platform as a head coach to start Autism Awareness in college basketball. What started as two guys with an idea has turned into a national event where hundreds of coaches wear the prominent blue puzzle piece pin. The effort put forth by Skerry was recognized as he was honored with the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Guardians of the Game Service Award.
CHARLES IN CHARGE:
The big man in the middle for the Tigers,
Charles Thompson, is back for his fifth season at Towson and is looking to cap his prolific career by leading the Tigers to a CAA championship. Thompson is coming off another strong campaign that saw him earn CAA All-Defensive Team and All-CAA Second Team honors last season after averaging 12.2 ppg and 8.0 rpg shooting 56.5 percent from the floor.
Thompson ranks in the top 10 in program history in six different categories. He is the all-time leader in games played and is currently third in field goal percentage (.550), fourth in blocked shots (188), fourth in rebounds (927), third in minutes played (3,619), tied for third in starts (108) and is 16th in scoring (1,261).
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE:
Towson has had a major home court advantage over the last nine years at TU Arena. Since moving into the arena from the Towson Center in 2013, the Tigers have gone 103-42. Towson has had a winning record in home games in seven of the nine seasons, including winning the 2022 CAA regular season title against Delaware at home.
The Tigers broke the school record for consecutive home wins at TU Arena against Stony Brook on January 11 when Towson won their 15
th straight home game dating back to the 2022-23 season.
NATIONAL EXPOSURE:
The Tigers will play eight total regular season games in front of a national television audience including four Coastal Athletic Association games in January and February. The Tigers will play Elon (February 12, 9 p.m.) and Charleston (February 24, 12 p.m.) on CBS Sports Network at TU Arena and will be on the road on CBS Sports Network against Delaware (January 27, 2 p.m.) and Hofstra (February 3, 6 p.m.).
In addition to the CBS Sports Network games, Towson will open the season on Pac 12 Network against Colorado and will have all three games at the Charleston Classic air on the ESPN family of networks.
The Tigers will also air on local linear television with seven home games on Monumental Sports Network (formerly NBC Sports Washington) as well as their game against UMBC on MASN. Towson also announced on December 14 that three games (Jan. 25 vs. Drexel, Feb. 8 vs. Delaware, Feb. 22 vs. Monmouth) will also air on MeTV, a digital subchannel of WBAL.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT:
William & Mary comes into the contest having lost their last four games including a 69-58 loss at Delaware on Saturday. The Tribe are 6-5 at home compared to 2-10 away from Williamsburg. Three players are averaging double figures led by Gabe Dorsey at 13.5 ppg. Dorsey is shooting 40 percent from the floor and 39 percent from three. Trey Moss is scoring at a 13.3 ppg clip with Chase Lowe averaging 13.1 ppg and a team-best 6.9 rpg.
UP NEXT:
Towson will conclude their road swing against Hampton on Saturday, Feb. 17. Tipoff against the Pirates is slated for 2 p.m. on FloHoops.
