Towson Men’s Basketball can’t right the ship, falls to Navy in OT 71-69
By: Mitch Nazimok and Karl Lindsey
The Towson Men’s Basketball team dropped their third game of the season in an overtime loss to Navy, 71-69.
Guard Nicolas Timberlake led the Tigers in scoring with 17 points, while Guard Nygal Russell led the team with five assists and eight rebounds.
“I’m more disappointed in our defense in the second half tonight,” said Head Coach Pat Skerry.
A putback from Navy’s Christian Jones ended their nearly five minute scoring drought, followed by a free-throw from guard Kam Summers 30 seconds later, which gave the Midshipmen a 3-2 lead.
At the second media timeout, Navy held the lead 11-9. The Midshipmen were 5/14 on field goals and 0/5 from the three, while the Tigers were 3/13 on field goals, and 1/7 from beyond the arch.
Chris Biekeu made both his free throws to cut into Navy’s lead 20-17. A three-pointer by Christian May tied the contest 20-20. The Tigers retook the lead after a pair of Cam Holden free throws for the first time since the 12-minute mark with 3:50 left in the half. A couple minutes later, Russell hit a three and extended the Towson lead to 30-25.
The Tigers led 35-27 at the break, shooting 46.2% from the field after the first 20. Holden led the team in scoring and rebounds with 11 points and four rebounds. The Tigers were cautious on defense, only sending the Midshipmen to the charity stripe for two shots in the first half.
Towson held a five-point lead after Timberlake made both his free throw attempts, making the score 47-42. The Midshipmen ended a 6-0 run by Towson with a three-pointer from forward Tyler Nelson making it 49-45.
After being fouled again, Timberlake proceeded to make both free throws to push the lead back to six. Timberlake then made a three-pointer to make the score 54-45 with under eight minutes left in the game. The Tigers went on a cold streak, not making a field goal for four entire minutes during the end of the second half.
At the under-four timeout, the game was tied 56-56. Navy was slightly outshooting Towson with a field goal percentage of 45.1% compared to Towson’s 42.2%.
An and-one layup from Timberlake put Towson’s lead at 59-56, bringing Timberlake to 15 points in the game thus far.
With 1:30 left in the game, Navy cut the lead down to one with a layup. They take the lead thirty seconds later with a three-pointer from Forward Tyler Nelson.
With 42 seconds left in the game, the Tigers were down 59-60. A layup from Charles Thompson regained the Tigers’ lead 61-60. Thompson then blocked a shot to stop the Navy counterattack and keep the lead with 22 seconds remaining.
A Navy foul brought the Tigers to the foul line, and Russell secured one of two free throws bringing Towson’s lead to 62-60. The Midshipmen quickly answered with a game-tying layup with eight seconds left.
The Tigers could not secure a final basket so the game headed into overtime tied 62-62.
A mid-range jumper from Timberlake cut Navy’s lead to just three and ended the Tiger’s field-goal drought in overtime.
An answering three-pointer from Guard Ryan Conway cut Navy’s lead to two with 13 seconds remaining in overtime, but a missed mid-range jumper from Timberlake secured the game for Navy, 71-69 in overtime.
The Tigers ended the game with a field goal percentage of 43.4%, falling under Navy’s 46.8%.
The Tiger’s travel to the United Center in Chicago to play the University of Northern Iowa in The Legends of Basketball Chicago Hoops Showcase on Dec. 17 at 1 p.m.
