Towson extends their CAA lead in dominant fashion over Monmouth, claim 12th straight victory

By: Jackson Palich, Staff Writer and Henry Ortiz, Contributing Writer

The first-place Towson Tigers (11-1) faced off against the Monmouth Hawks (7-6) with hopes to keep their win streak alive and retain a firm grip on first place in the CAA.  

The Tigers opened up firing, forcing six turnovers and shooting the lights out from three. Dylan Williamson, Tyler Tejada, and Christian May accounted for two each as Towson would maintain an impressive 60% from three to open the half. Towson up six at the U-12 timeout. 

Towson continued to gain momentum and everything started to fall, including a highlight sequence from star guard Williamson. After splitting two defenders with a filthy spin move Williamson finished the highlight, draining the three right in the face of Monmouth’s Jack Collins. 

Tejada added after the game that the highlight was just another shot for a guy like Williamson, and that this is a regular occurrence. 

“He does stuff like that every game, so we’re kinda used to seeing it,” said Tejada.

Towson would lead by as much as 21 points in the first half, and it seemed like just about everything went in their favor. Tejada led the way with 13, including two from the three-point line. May was also hot from the field, converting three first-half three-pointers to go along with 11 points, 39-20 heading into the break.

Towson started the second half on a heater, two threes from Williamson and Tomiwa Sulaiman within the first 4 minutes to make it 47-29. The Tigers would then go on a 9-0 run highlighted by a three Nendah Tarke three and a downhill driving layup by Williamson. Tarke would get the layup and the and-1 with 11 minutes to go. 

Even though there were not many highlights from the second half, a “We want Skerry” chant from the student section led to head coach Pat bringing his son Ryan in the final few minutes of the game. Although Ryan couldn’t convert his first points of the season, Pat claims that he’s still happy to see Ryan out there, and is enjoying every moment he has with him.

“It’s always a little different when you’re a parent. You miss a lot of stuff as a coach when they’re younger that you don’t get back, so getting to be around him every day has been something that I’m not taking for granted.” 

Towson would go on to win by 26, with a final score of 80-54. The Tigers led by as much as 32 points in the game, emphasizing their dominant performance. Tejada continued to do what he does best and led all scorers with 15, while Tarke, Williamson, and May trailed slightly behind. 

Now 13-1 in conference play, Towson looks to stay on track as they head to Elon to face the Phoenix, next Thursday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m.