Towson Men’s Basketball earns important home win against rival Delaware
By: Courtney Ott, Deputy Sports Editor
The Towson Men’s Basketball team (10-5 in the CAA) beat Delaware (5-10) 95-72 in a crucial in-conference game with the end of the regular season closing in.
The Tigers finished shooting 72% from the 3-point line and guard Nicolas Timberlake had his tenth 20 point game of the season.
“It’s huge coming back home to a huge crowd and then just to get a win to put us back on track,” said Timberlake.
After losing their last two games on a road trip that featured losses against Drexel and William & Mary, Towson picked up the important victory in front of 3,010 fans.
The Tigers started down by two but at the 16:45 mark forward Charles Thompson made a layup to put Towson up 9-7. Just before the under 16-minute timeout, Towson stole the ball which gave Timberlake three points behind the arch.
With under 12 minutes remaining in the half, Towson went on an 8-0 run while Delaware went through a scoring drought of three minutes and was 0/4 on their field goals during that time. Timberlake stole the ball and drove all the way down the court, giving Towson a 26-11 lead after slamming it home.
A media timeout took place at 8:26 after Thompson took the ball down the court off of a Delaware turnover and assisted guard Nygal Russell in three points which increased Towson’s lead to 33-13.
With just over five minutes left in the first half, Delaware went on a six point run in the span of a little over two minutes to decrease Towson’s lead to 33-19. After the timeout, forward Sekou Sylla went up for a layup that was rolling off the rim but Russell tapped it back in.
With two minutes left in the half, Timberlake put up three more points for Towson, but Delaware responded with two of their own from forward Jyàre Davis that put Delaware at a 10-point deficit. The Tigers had a 42-33 lead at halftime after a late first-half surge from the Blue Hens.
“I mentioned to the guys in the huddle that they beat us twice, they stunned us in the tournament last year and they beat us a few months ago so I just said we had to end the streak of them beating us,” said forward Cam Holden.
Timberlake and Thompson were the top scorers in the first half with 12 each. Towson finished the first half with a 51% field goal compared to Delaware’s 56%. Towson held the higher three-point percentage at 40%. The Tigers led the rebound battle with 18 compared to Delaware’s nine.
Coming out of the under-12 timeout, Towson was up 71-48 after three points from behind the arch from guard Ryan Conway, and the team extended their made field goal streak to nine in a row. Another media timeout at 7:30, and the Tigers were at 12/12 on field goals after Timberlake made another three. Towson held a 79-57 lead.
Towson shot 100% from the 3-point line in the second half alone and 80% on field goals. Timberlake led scorers with 29 followed by Conway and Thompson with 14 each. Holden recorded 11 assists and Towson’s reserves stepped up with 33 bench points.
“The guys responded really well after a tough weekend… we really shared the ball and we really shot the ball and we did a good job on the glass,” said Head Coach Pat Skerry. “We still have to take care of the ball better and we could still guard better.”
The Tigers’ next game is at home against North Carolina A&T on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 4 p.m.
