WASHINGTON – The 7-seed Towson University men's basketball team battled with 3-seed Hofstra in a thrilling Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Tournament game, tying the game late with a Jaquan Womack putback, but the Tigers fell after a Preston Edmead deep three in the final second.
 
In a game that saw nine ties and 10 lead changes, Towson (19-15) had a final chance in regulation but just missed a shot short.  Towson rallied to tie in the final minute, but Edmead's deep three gave the win to Hofstra (23-10).
 
With the defeat, Towson's season comes to a close in the CAA Tournament semifinal round.
 
Key Stats

• In a game that was close in every way, Towson edged Hofstra in points in the paint 24-22 while Hofstra had a slight rebounding edge 39-36. 
• Tyler Tejada continued his incredible CAA Tournament, earning 29 points with seven rebounds and two assists.  Dylan Williamson finished with 15 points.
• For Hofstra, Preston Edmead played all 45 minutes and had 22 points and three assists.  Cruz Davis concluded with 18 points, four assists and five rebounds.

How it Happened

• Both sides traded baskets in the opening possession as Ryan Conway drilled a kick-out three to give Towson to lead.  Holding on a couple of possessions, Towson added to the lead as Tyler Tejada threw a perfect pass to Mor Seck at the basket for the dunk for the 5-2 Towson lead with 17:49 left in the first.
• Early on, Towson focused more on the paint while Hofstra attacked mainly from the perimeter.  A couple of threes from Preston Edmead and German Plotnikov pushed Hofstra ahead.  Towson's scoring drought lasted 3:33 as Hofstra went on an 8-0 run and took a 13-7 lead with 12:41 to go in the first.
• Towson stopped the run with Jack Doumbia Jr. free throws, then another kick-out Towson three, this from Joquan Womack, cut the deficit to one.  Hofstra countered back with another three then a Joshua Decady dunk from Cruz Davis made it 18-12 Pride, 9:23 in the first.
• Towson's two All-CAA players got to the paint and knocked down jumpers to send Towson to the lead.  Tejada hit three jumpers in a row inside the arc to fuel the streak, adding free throws to push the run to 10-0.  Towson led 22-18, 5:55 left in the first.
• The sides continued the physical play as Hofstra retook the lead on a Silas Sunday turnaround floater.  A long offensive possession led to a Doumbia putback for Towson to get back ahead.  The sides exchanged a basket as Towson took a 28-27 lead into the locker room.
• Into the second half, both teams looked to attacking the basket early.  Cruz Davis knocked down a couple of shots to get Hofstra up by four, where Tejada knocked down a wing three to stop the mini-streak.  Davis continued to hit shots and got Hofstra to a 38-33 lead with just over five minutes elapsed in the second half.
• Towson's scoring drought of over three minutes was stopped after Tejada got fouled and hit a pair of free throws.  A Plotnikov three sent the Hofstra lead back to six as the two sides continued battle defensively back and forth.  Towson continued to attack the paint and pulled closer off a Tejada jumper and Doumbia free throws again got Towson within a possession 42-40 Hofstra with 11:14 to play.
• Towson's defense continued to stop Hofstra's attempts in the paint as on the other side, Tejada and Williamson got Towson to a 44-44 tied game with 9:15 to go.
• Hofstra continued to go to Davis, leading to five straight points for the CAA Player of the Year to put the 3-seed back in front.  Dylan Williamson hit his step back three, then a turnaround jump shot in the paint, then a high floating jumper to give Towson the lead 51-49, inducing a Hofstra timeout with 4:45 to play.
• Again Hofstra went to Davis, who knocked down a top-of-the-key shot for a Pride lead.  A Tejada free throw set the potential final stage as at the final media timeout with 3:45 to play, the score was tied 52-52.
• After a couple of traded possessions, Hofstra broke the deadlock with a Edmead three on the wing at the 2:12 mark.  The clock kept ticking on a couple of missed shots as at 1:06, Tejada hit the jumper and one, tying the game at 55.
• Towson's defense forced a tough shot on the wing, where Tyler Coleman rebounded and set up the next play with under 30 seconds left.  Tejada's potential game-winner was short and the two teams went to overtime.
• Hofstra hit the first points of overtime on a backend free throw for Plotnikov, then added a Decady alley-oop.  Tejada hit a runner and one, which fouled out Davis for Hofstra.  After Biggie Patterson hit two free throws, Tejada knocked down a three for a 61-60 Towson lead, just over two minutes through overtime.
• Hofstra went to its CAA Rookie of the Year as Edmead passed to an open Sunday for the layup, then after a missed Towson three, Edmead hit a wing three to put Hofstra up 65-61 with 1:49 left in overtime.
• Tejada hit a floater out of a timeout to get Towson back within a possession.  Towson held on the next Hofstra chance and called timeout with 37.6 seconds remaining in overtime.  Williamson missed the jumper attempt, but Joquan Womack rebounded and hit the layup to tie the game.  In the final seconds, Edmead hit a deep, fadeaway three with 0.3 seconds left as Hofstra took the win 68-65.

Inside the Numbers

• This is the fifth consecutive season Towson has made the CAA Tournament semifinal round.
• Tyler Tejada finished the tournament with 94 points, averaging 31.3 points per game.