Winning is Everything

[randy]

PF Aaron Wise is injured

Jan 26, 2003: William & Mary (6-12, 3-6) @ #8 Towson (18-0, 9-0)

Our big men having a good game, as they are scoring almost at will inside the paint. Up 22-10, 12:05. C Kelley Brown picked up 3 fouls further affecting our normal rotation up front, but we showed great depth today as the other big men stepped up. WM got into penalty, and we added our FT via the FT line. Halftime, Up 47-27.

No 2nd half sleep-mode this time, as we continued to play hard and even extended our lead. C Herbert Desmond made the most out of his extended playing time today


Final Score: William & Mary - 52, Towson - 78


Box Scores
[INDENT]Ward 19, 5, 2, 2 stls , 5 tos
Brown 14, 8, 0
Morton 13, 11, 2
Desmond 13, 3, 3, 2 stls
Wallace 11, 4, 1
Mason 8, 0, 0
Dement 0, 2, 2
Price 0, 1, 3
[/INDENT]
Stats Comparison
[INDENT]FG: 52-43%
REB: +17
TO: -6
Pts in paint: +26
2nd chance: +5
Fast break: +5
[/INDENT]


CAA Conference Standings

1. Towson, 10-0 (W10)
2. James Madison, 6-4 (L1)
3. Old Dominion, 6-4 (W2)
4. Delaware, 5-5 (L1)
5. George Mason, 5-5 (L2)
6. Northeastern, 5-5 (W1)
7. VCU, 5-5 (L2)
8. Georgia St, 4-6 (W1)
9. Hofstra, 4-6 (L1)
10. NC Wilmington, 4-6 (W1)
11. William & Mary, 3-7 (L2)
12. Drexel, 3-7 (W2)

[randy]

1. Fr C Zach Wright (Kansas), 18.5 ppg, 13.6 rpg, 1.6 apg, 0.4 spg, 0.9 bpg
2. Fr C Collis Asbury (Georgia), 19.5 ppg, 13.2 rpg, 1.0 apg, 1.2 spg, 2.5 bpg
3. Sr SG George Carter (Toledo), 25.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 1.2 apg, 1.1 spg, 0.6 bpg
4. Sr SG Cain Ward (Towson), 23.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 3.8 apg, 1.9 spg, 0.7 bpg
5. Sr C Victor Prince (Gonzaga), 15.9 ppg, 10.4 rpg, 1.7 apg, 1.9 spg, 2.7 bpg

C Kelley Brown is also a Norton quater finalist, ranked #20

[randy]

PF Aaron Wise is still injured (sprained toe, 75%, 7 days)

Jan 30, 2003: #7 Towson (19-0, 10-0) @ Georgia St (11-9, 4-6)

Outstanding game for SG Cain Ward so far, 15 pts in just over 10 mins of play. Up 29-20, 9:34. GAST has shot well (52% FG) to keep themselves close. Halftime, Up 49-40.

What may seem like slow progress for GAST, but they have steadily reduced our lead to 4. Up 58-54, 12:43. We get our lead back to 11, but GAST quickly hits a 3. Up 76-68, 4:42. After an exchange of baskets, SF Terrel Wallace hits his 3rd 3pt shot of the game. After a miss by GAST, Wallace scores a jumper to bring our lead back up 13. Up 83-70, 2:49. We just need to slow down the game


Final Score: Towson - 87, Georgia St - 76


Box Scores
[INDENT]Ward 34, 5, 2, 2 blks, 6 tos (*)
Morton 17, 4, 0, 2 blks
Wallace 11, 4, 2, 2 stls
Brown 9, 10, 1
Mason 8, 3, 2
Dement 4, 4, 9
Desmond 4, 4, 0
Price 0, 0, 2, 2 stls
[/INDENT]
Stats Comparison
[INDENT]FG: 56-50%
REB: +10
TO: -2
Pts in paint: +18
2nd chance: +7
Fast break: +13
[/INDENT]


CAA Conference Standings

1. Towson, 11-0 (W11)
2. James Madison, 7-4 (W1)
3. George Mason, 6-5 (W1)
4. Old Dominion, 6-5 (L1)
5. VCU, 6-5 (W1)
6. Northeastern, 5-6 (L1)
7. Delaware, 5-6 (L2)
8. William & Mary, 4-7 (W1)
9. Georgia St, 4-7 (L1)
10. Drexel, 4-7 (W3)
11. Hofstra, 4-7 (L2)
12. NC Wilmington, 4-7 (L1)

[randy]

PF Aaron Wise is still injured (sprained toe, 85%, 4 days)

Feb 2, 2003: #7 Towson (20-0, 11-0) @ James Madison (13-7, 7-4)

Good start on defense forcing JMU to commit 6 turn overs already, and shooting just 19% FG. Up 19-7, 10:08. JMU continues to throw the ball away (11 turn overs) and we blow this game wide open. Halftime, Up 44-24. SG Cain Ward scoring and facilitating at the same time, 12 pts, 7 asts.

We continue to play suffocating defense, as JMU now has 17 turn overs. Up 64-35, 11:24. A fine all-around performance from SG Cain Ward, getting a double-double today.


Final Score: Towson - 85, James Madison - 59


Box Scores
[INDENT]Ward 24, 3, 12, 2 stls, 4 blks, 5 tos (*)
Wallace 15, 3, 1, 2 stls, 5 tos
Morton 14, 7, 1
Brown 8, 7, 1
Desmond 8, 2, 3, 2 stls
Mason 6, 1, 1
Dement 5, 1, 3
Price 5, 1, 2
[/INDENT]
Stats Comparison
[INDENT]FG: 63-38%
REB: -4
TO: -5
Pts in paint: +28
2nd chance: +6
Fast break: +2
[/INDENT]


CAA Conference Standings

1. Towson, 12-0 (W12)
2. James Madison, 7-5 (L1)
3. Old Dominion, 7-5 (W1)
4. VCU, 7-5 (W2)
5. Delaware, 6-6 (W1)
6. George Mason, 6-6 (L1)
7. Northeastern, 6-6 (W1)
8. Hofstra, 5-7 (W1)
9. William & Mary, 4-8 (L1)
10. Georgia St, 4-8 (L2)
11. Drexel, 4-8 (L1)
12. NC Wilmington, 4-8 (L2)

[randy]

Feb 2, 2003: #7 Towson (21-0, 12-0) @ Delaware (12-9, 6-6)

Our winning streak is in danger of ending today, as we are having a horrible offense, committing 7 turn overs and shooting just 26% FG. Down 11-17, 9:32. A team that is shooting poorly needs to do one thing to offset that, which is to get more opportunities to shoot; we've done that by grabbing off rebounds (13), and forcing DEL to commit turn overs (DEL with 11). Halftime, Up 33-29. I am hoping our 3-9 FT performance in the 1st half will not haunt us in the end game

After going 1-10 FG, SG Cain Ward has hit 2 of his next 3. Even DEL began to shoot cold also; in a game like this where both teams are not shooting well, rebounding becomes a bigger factor. Up 45-36, 11:28. All of a sudden, DEL went on an 8-0 run including two 3pt shots, and we were leading only by 1. We didn't lose composure, and responded with a 9-0 run, the last basket was SF Terrell Wallace's 3rd triple of the game. Up 56-46, 6:23. Lead expanded to 17, as Wallace hits another 3. We held on for the win, and somehow survived shooting below 40% FG, with SG Cain Ward going 5-21 FG


Final Score: Towson - 69, Delaware - 54


Box Scores
[INDENT]Brown 16, 8, 0 (*)
Wallace 14, 3, 2
Mason 11, 6, 0
Ward 10, 7, 4, 2 stls, 5 tos (*)
Morton 6, 6, 2, 3 stls
Wise 4, 7, 2
Price 4, 2, 1
Desmond 4, 0, 1
Dement 0, 3, 5, 2 stls
[/INDENT]
Stats Comparison
[INDENT]FG: 40-40%
REB: +12
TO: -8
Pts in paint: +22
2nd chance: +4
Fast break: +8
[/INDENT]


CAA Conference Standings

1. Towson, 13-0 (W13)
2. James Madison, 8-5 (W1)
3. George Mason, 7-6 (W1)
4. Old Dominion, 7-6 (L1)
5. Northeastern, 7-6 (W2)
6. VCU, 7-6 (L1)
7. Delaware, 6-7 (L1)
8. Georgia St, 5-8 (W1)
9. Hofstra, 5-8 (L1)
10. NC Wilmington, 5-8 (W1)
11. William & Mary, 4-9 (L2)
12. Drexel, 4-9 (L2)

[randy]

Feb 9, 2003: Drexel (7-15, 4-9) @ #7 Towson (22-0, 13-0)

DREX was on even terms for teh 1st 10 mins of the game. We started dominating the boards, and played our brand of defense, allowing us to quickly pull away. Our home crowd cheered when they saw a familiar face about to check in for the 1st time this season, Jr PG Nick Granger. The 5-5 Granger has been our primary backup PG the past 2 seasons, and with our depth in that position this year, Granger fell below our depth chart. Halftime, Up 45-22. C Kelley Brown had a monster 1st half, 20 pts, 12 rebs.

Outstanding marksmanship from beyond the arc, as we finished the game 9-11 3PT. SG Cain Ward was 1 assist away, and we could have been (most probably) the 1st team in NCAA history to have 3 players register double-doubles in the same game.

With the win today, we secured our 3rd consecutive CAA regular season championship


Final Score: Drexel - 54, Towson - 93


Box Scores
[INDENT]Brown 28, 19, 0, 2 blks (*)
Ward 17, 5, 9, 5 tos
Morton 11, 11, 1
Wallace 11, 6, 4
Mason 10, 2, 1
Price 10, 0, 3
Dement 6, 3, 1
Wise 0, 3, 0
Granger 0, 0, 1
Desmond 0, 0, 0
[/INDENT]
Stats Comparison
[INDENT]FG: 55-37%
REB: +32
TO: Even
Pts in paint: +26
2nd chance: +27
Fast break: +18
[/INDENT]


CAA Conference Standings

1. Towson, 14-0 (W14)
2. James Madison, 9-5 (W2)
3. George Mason, 8-6 (W2)
4. Northeastern, 8-6 (W3)
5. VCU, 8-6 (W1)
6. Old Dominion, 7-7 (L2)
7. Delaware, 6-8 (L2)
8. NC Wilmington, 6-8 (W2)
9. Georgia St, 5-9 (L1)
10. Hofstra, 5-9 (L2)
11. William & Mary, 4-10 (L3)
12. Drexel, 4-10 (L3)

[randy]

Feb 13, 2003: George Mason (13-10, 8-6) @ #7 Towson (23-0, 14-0)

Started out as a relatively low-scoring game, until we hit our stride towards the end of the 1st half. Halftime, Up 41-24.

Biggest lead was 25, until GM hit some 3pt shots late in the game, when the result of the match was already long decided


Final Score: George Mason - 56, Towson - 70


Box Scores
[INDENT]Ward 24, 4, 6, 2 stls (*)
Brown 12, 11, 1
Morton 12, 6, 0
Mason 9, 4, 0
Wallace 5, 5, 3, 4 stls
Wise 2, 3, 0
Price 2, 2, 3
Desmond 2, 2, 0
Dement 2, 1, 3
[/INDENT]
Stats Comparison
[INDENT]FG: 48-39%
REB: +16
TO: Even
Pts in paint: +26
2nd chance: -1
Fast break: +5
[/INDENT]


CAA Conference Standings

1. Towson, 15-0 (W14)
2. James Madison, 9-6 (L1)
3. George Mason, 8-7 (L1)
4. Old Dominion, 8-7 (W1)
5. Northeastern, 8-7 (L1)
6. VCU, 8-7 (L1)
7. Delaware, 7-8 (W1)
8. NC Wilmington, 6-9 (L1)
9. Georgia St, 6-9 (W1)
10. Drexel, 5-10 (W1)
11. Hofstra, 5-10 (L3)
12. William & Mary, 5-10 (W1)

[randy]

Last road game, and then we end conference regular-season play with 2 games at home.

Feb 16, 2003: #7 Towson (24-0, 15-0) @ Hofstra (14-11, 5-10)

HOF playing inspired basketball at the start, and we go down by 10. We settled down, and went on a 9-1 spurt. Down 15-16, 12:17. Tough to rally against a team shooting 64% FG, but we eventually tied the game. It has been a very tight game since, as no team lead by more than 3 after that point. We got HOF into penalty, but we only shot 5-10 FT. Halftime, Down 37-38.

We shifted to using the 2-3 zone exclusively, as HOF managed to get 16 pts in the paint during the 1st half. We jumped off to a 6-0 run to go up by 5. But HOF answered back immediately and tie the game. We get another mini-run to go up by 7, as HOF forced to shoot from the outside (and they are not making them). Up 50-43, 11:45.

But HOF's resiliency has cut down our lead to 2. Two big 3 pt shots by SF Terrell Wallace gave some breathing room. Up 62-54, 6:21. After an exchange of baskets, we missed 2 more FTs (8-15 FT today). HOF missed. Timeout. Up 66-60, 2:40.

We missed a 3. HOF missed on their end also. And then we scored on an off rebound put back, to go up by 8. Less than 2 mins; we'll use up as much clock as possible. HOF gets a 3 pt shot to fall. Timeout. Up 68-63, 1:26.

We milked the clock, before C Kelley Brown gets his short jumper to fall. HOF timeout. Up 70-63, 0:59. HOF turned the ball over, and that should do it.


Final Score: Towson - 76, Hofstra - 63


Box Scores
[INDENT]Ward 18, 5, 5, 2 blks (*)
Wallace 18, 5, 3
Brown 13, 8, 0
Morton 9, 5, 0
Desmond 8, 8, 0
Wise 6, 4, 0
Dement 2, 2, 3
Mason 2, 1, 0
Price 0, 4, 8, fouled out
[/INDENT]
Stats Comparison
[INDENT]FG: 52-43%
REB: +5
TO: -4
Pts in paint: +24
2nd chance: Even
Fast break: -2
[/INDENT]


CAA Conference Standings

1. Towson, 16-0 (W16)
2. James Madison, 10-6 (W1)
3. George Mason, 9-7 (W1)
4. Old Dominion, 9-7 (W2)
5. VCU, 9-7 (W1)
6. Northeastern, 8-8 (L2)
7. Delaware, 7-9 (L1)
8. Georgia St, 6-10 (L1)
9. Drexel, 6-10 (W2)
10. NC Wilmington, 6-10 (L2)
11. Hofstra, 5-11 (L4)
12. William & Mary, 5-11 (L1)

[randy]

Feb 19, 2003: #24 Toledo (18-9, 11-4) vs #7 Towson (25-0, 16-0)

TOL 2-12 FG. Up 19-6, 11:03. We lead by as many as 20, until TOW finally hitting their outside shots. Halftime, Up 39-25. We shot 14-16 FT

We've built our lead back to 20. Up 53-33, 13:43. We further increased our lead, behind C Kelley Brown's (18 pts, 9 rebs) dominance in the paint. Up 66-38, 8:34. A big win against a ranked team.


Final Score: Toledo - 55, Towson - 90


Box Scores
[INDENT]Ward 24, 2, 8, 3 stls (*)
Brown 20, 16, 0
Wallace 18, 3, 2
Mason 8, 3, 0
Wise 6, 7, 0
Morton 5, 4, 0
Price 5, 1, 4
Dement 4, 5, 2
Desmond 0, 1, 0
[/INDENT]
Stats Comparison
[INDENT]FG: 55-33%
REB: +20
TO: -1
Pts in paint: +24
2nd chance: -2
Fast break: -2
[/INDENT]


CAA Conference Standings

1. Towson, 16-0 (W16)
2. James Madison, 10-6 (W1)
3. George Mason, 9-7 (W1)
4. Old Dominion, 9-7 (W2)
5. VCU, 9-7 (W1)
6. Northeastern, 8-8 (L2)
7. Delaware, 7-9 (L1)
8. Georgia St, 6-10 (L1)
9. Drexel, 6-10 (W2)
10. NC Wilmington, 6-10 (L2)
11. Hofstra, 5-11 (L4)
12. William & Mary, 5-11 (L1)

[randy]

PF Aaron Wise is injured (sore arm, 82%, 6 days)

Feb 20, 2003: Northeastern (11-14, 8-8) vs #7 Towson (26-0, 16-0)

NORTH trying to slow down the pace of the game. Up 17-9, 9:52. NORTH had a scoreless drought that lasted almost 7 mins, and that's all it took for us to blow this game away. Halftime, Up 44-17.

We showed tremendous scoring balance again, with 5 players in double digit scoring


Final Score: Northestern - 47, Towson - 79


Box Scores
[INDENT]Morton 18, 4, 0
Ward 14, 4, 8, 3 stls (*)
Price 13, 7, 3
Brown 10, 11, 2
Wallace 10, 3, 1
Mason 6, 6, 0
Desmond 6, 3, 0
Dement 2, 1, 3
[/INDENT]
Stats Comparison
[INDENT]FG: 51-32%
REB: +19
TO: -6
Pts in paint: +44
2nd chance: +8
Fast break: +16
[/INDENT]


CAA Conference Standings

1. Towson, 17-0 (W17)
2. James Madison, 10-7 (L1)
3. VCU, 10-7 (W2)
4. George Mason, 10-7 (W2)
5. Old Dominion, 9-8 (L1)
6. Delaware, 8-9 (W1)
7. Northeastern, 8-9 (L3)
8. NC Wilmington, 7-10 (W1)
9. Georgia St, 7-10 (W1)
10. Drexel, 6-11 (L1)
11. Hofstra, 5-12 (L5)
12. William & Mary, 5-12 (L2)