FEDORA

[PointGuard]

Dec. 1, 2021: Towson Tigers (4-1) @ Wagner Seahawks (2-3)

Tiger Blog

After starting the season with 4 straight wins, a subpar performance brought Towson’s men’s basketball team back to earth earlier this week in their loss at North Dakota. Last night in the middle of a 3-game road trip they went up against the Wagner Seahawks on Staten Island, New York. Adrian Brown was back in the starting lineup at PG following Coach Fed’s failed experiment in starting Mateen Carroll in their last game. Carroll has played well coming off the bench but was ineffective as a starter.

Rumors abound that Wagner is torn by internal dissension that Brian Mills, their head coach, has been unable to control. The team began the season with two close wins at home but had lost their 3 subsequent games and has yet to score 70 points in any of their games. Towson’s defense, which has been sound, fell apart in their last game so a test would be to continue to keep the Seahawks’ scoring low.

The Tigers gradually pulled away from Wagner in the first half. With 8:47 remaining before the intermission, Towson got their first double-digit lead at 27-16. The Tigers players were a little quicker. Wagner, in attempting to counteract that, got called for some dumb holding fouls. As Towson harassed Wagner defensively, the Seahawks had several passes picked off and also threw the ball away repeatedly. Towson expanded their lead to 18 before settling for a 47-34 halftime advantage. Both teams hit over 50% of their shots in the half. But the Tigers held a 14-9 rebounding advantage and made just 6 turnovers compared to 14 by the Seahawks. PF Deon Penn poured in 15 points in the half.

The Tigers continued to take their measure of Wagner in the 2nd half and went ahead 60-39 with 16:21 to play. Wagner tried to come back late but the difference was just too great. Towson left with an 88-78 victory. Each team hit 51% of their FG attempts. Towson controlled the boards 31-21 and also held an 18-13 turnover advantage.

PF Deon Penn scored 19 points, C Melvin Steele had 17, SF Wayne Burrough finished with 15, and SG Billy Thomas hit for 10.

After the game Coach Aura said, “I was very pleased with our offense, but we let up defensively in the 2nd half and gave the Seahawks just too many easy baskets.”

[PointGuard]

Dec. 5, 2021: Towson Tigers (5-1) @ Georgia Southern Eagles (2-3)

Matt Heard, walkon SF:

We moved from the cold of North Dakota and New York to the much warmer clime of Georgia. We flew from Baltimore to Savannah via Atlanta. We then took a bus from Savannah to the Georgia Southern campus in Statesboro. Coach Fed has us on a virtual lockdown along with strict personal safety measures for all of us since Covid19 cases in Georgia have spiked recently due to lax preventative measures here. He also paid for extra cleaning measures in our locker room at Hanner Fieldhouse and at the hotel we’re using. He scheduled us for the earliest flight we could take the morning after our game.

Georgia Southern has had home games the entire season thus far. SG Otis Lynch is averaging 15.4 ppg for the Eagles. Their primary offensive set is the high post and defensively they most often play man-to-man. Coach Fed wants us setting a lot of good picks to free up some clear shots. He also wants some good ball movement, being careful to avoid turnovers. We’ve been pressing a lot lately but he got on us since we’ve given up some easy baskets on blown coverage.

We scored the first 6 points in the game but then went ice-cold. Georgia Southern ran off 14 straight points. We simply didn’t have it in the first half, hitting just 28% of our shots, none of our 3’s, less than half of our foul shots. And were out-rebounded 23-18. The Eagles held a big 37-21 lead when the buzzer sounded. PF Deon Penn scored 6 points but also picked up 3 fouls for us. We held Otis Lynch scoreless but SF Jason Johnson hit for 10 points for Georgia Southern.

We stumbled along throughout most of the 2nd half, but finally made a run late and cut the score to 60-55 when SG Billy Thomas sunk a 3 with 38 seconds to go. I was screaming from the bench since I thought we might pull of a big comeback win. We fouled and they made one of two to increase their lead to 6. We missed another 3 but C Melvin Steele tipped in a rebound to get us within 4 points but there were only 6 seconds left. We fouled again. The Eagles sank both free throws along with our comeback attempt. We lost 63-57.

We only raised our shooting percentage to 36% but we hit just as many FG’s and one more 3 than did Georgia Southern. But the Eagles scored 7 more points at the free throw line which sealed our loss.

PF Deon Penn finished with 14 points with SF Wayne Burrough adding 12. C Melvin Steele scored 8 but had 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. We kept the Eagles’ PG Otis Lynch from scoring the entire game, but their bench outscored ours 34-12.

[PointGuard]

Fracas

Coach Frederick Aura

After the game with Georgia Southern and returning to the team’s hotel, Adrian Brown was hungry and decided to take walk to a nearby drive-in for a hamburger and shake. His teammates said they were beat and didn’t want to go. After eating there he walked back toward the hotel. Within a block of the hotel, he noticed some sort of disturbance in the street near him. He began to hurry the final two blocks. The police had been called and arrived on scene. Noticing Adrian jogging down the sidewalk, they hollered to stop. Adrian said he thought they were calling to the perpetrators of the disturbance and not him. So he decided to keep running to get into the safety of the nearby hotel as quickly as possible. But another police car squealed to a stop and a burly police officer tackled and jumped on top of him. Other police officers came to assist as Adrian struggled to get free from the painful position in which he was being held. His pleas were muffled by his face being pushed onto the sidewalk and an officer’s body on top of him.

At that moment, I came out of the hotel planning to go for a short walk to rid myself of the pent up energy and frustration still within me from the game and our loss. I noticed the wrestling on the ground a half-block away. At first I turned to go back into the hotel so as to not get involved in a police action, but then took a second look and was shocked when I realized it was Adrian who was being held down by the police. I then ran toward the scene to try to help resolve Adrian’s problem, hollering for the police to stop. Another police officer intervened as I neared and roughly pushed me up against a building ordering me to stay out of it.

While being held down with pressure holds, Adrian was handcuffed on the ground. He was yanked up and pulled against his will by 3 officers toward a police vehicle and pushed into roughly into it. He kept repeating, “What are f—are you doing? I didn’t do anything!”

I was finally able to get across to the police that I was the coach for Adrian who was a college basketball player. Meanwhile other police officers had dealt with the original disturbance and arrested the people involved, whose descriptions were entirely different than Adrian’s, from how they were dressed to their skin color. But none-the-less, Adrian was taken to the police department since the police apparently still believed he was a party to the disturbance.

I quickly returned to the hotel and rounded up Omar McDade, my first assistant coach. Together we hurried to the police station. Three hours later, following extensive questioning of all plus Omar’s and my intervention on behalf of Adrian, he was finally cleared and released without as much as an apology from the police. He sustained extensive scrapes and bruising and a lot of body soreness due to his struggles on the ground. He will undergo a thorough medical exam upon our return to Towson. Since it’s uncertain if he sustained any serious injury, we aren’t sure if he will be able to play in our next game.

Even though he was exhausted, Adrian was angry and complaining about police profiling. I also was incensed by what the police had done and how they had acted. I called Perry Winkle, our AD, to let him know what happened and tell him I planned to file a complaint. He told me to drop it and just get the team the hell out of there and back to Towson. My arguments with Perry didn’t prevail. So I did what he said but am concerned that Adrian is likely to feel I let him down and wasn’t supportive.

[Wayne23]

All too real, sadly.

[PointGuard]

Dec. 8, 2021: Wyoming Cowboys (4-1) @ Towson Tigers (5-2)

PG Adrian Brown

Damn, I’m still sore from the beatin’ the police put on me. Luckily nothing broken and I’m still alive. Coach Fed said I should sit this game out and give my body a chance to get back to 100%. But there was no way I was going to miss a game. I think that would be like letting giving in to the authorities who unjustly and forcefully mistakenly confined me. Am I bitter? Hell yes I am. My intent tonight is to put aside my anger and pain and put a different kind of hurtin’ on the Wyoming Cowboys.

Both Wyoming and we have played North Dakota this season. The Cowboys won at home by 13 and we lost on the road by 9. So Wyoming is favored to whip us, but I’m confident that we will be up to the challenge. Most of Wyoming’s offense has come from their guards who all are hitting a high percentage of their shots. We’re going to make them work hard to try to wear them down and keep them from burning us. Coach Fed said don’t worry about scoring but wants me and Mateen focusing on defense and setting up our teammates on offense.

We fell behind 6-0. It took us 2-1/2 minutes to score. We struggled to catch up and finally did when I knocked down a 3 to make the score 15-15 with 13 minutes left in the half. We got our first lead 30 seconds later. The Cowboys then jumped back ahead by 6 and we were back in catch-up mode. With 5 minutes to go we tied Wyoming again at 37-37. The half ended with us trailing 42-41. But I thought we’d outplayed the Cowboys except that the refs had put the Cowboys on the line 9 more times where they’d scored 6 more points than us. PF Deon Penn was on fire and scored 15 in the half.

The lead shifted back and forth for the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half. We then took a small lead and very gradually edged further ahead as our defense dug in and we began to control the boards. With 4:45 to go we were up 69-58. We went on to cut down the Cowboys 82-65. We hit 55% of our shots compared to their 39% shooting.

PF Deon Penn and I both scored 16 points…and Deon also had 11 rebounds even though he picked up 4 fouls and only played 19 minutes. A helluva impressive performance! SF Wayne Burrough dropped in 14 points and C Jason Minor came off the bench to score 12. Coach Fed patted us on the back for keeping Wyoming’s guards in check. After the game I felt like I’d been run over by an 18-wheeler but I think I’ll be feeling good by the time we play our next game.

[PointGuard]

Aftermath

Coach Frederick Aura

The injustice that Adrian Brown sustained continued to eat at me, and I knew that Adrian’s mind was in a turmoil. Therefore I contacted Bryce Zion, a civil rights attorney, and have paid his up-front fees. He’s now begun collecting evidence and is working with Adrian to determine if there is a case that can be pursued against the police and city for the treatment inflicted upon him. A GoFundMe page has been established to take care of future legal fees for Adrian since he has no money to handle what could be a costly endeavor. Zion forthrightly advised that he will do his best but that success is a long-shot. He also said that the wheels of justice grind along very slowly so not expect a quick resolution.

Because of what happened, Adrian and a few of his teammates have become active in a local civil rights organization. I’m supportive of what they’re doing, and they’ve promised that it won’t cut into their focus on basketball and their education. It’s important that young adults take up the mantle for continuing to right historic and persistent wrongs in our society.

[PointGuard]

Dec. 12, 2021: Towson Tigers (6-2) @ Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks (5-1)

Jason Miner, C

This is my 3rd season playing for Towson. It’s been a bumpy road but one I’m glad I chose to come here. I played in every game as a freshman…coming off the bench to sub at power forward. Then last season I started almost every game at PF, doubling my minutes played. Then this fall, Coach Fed said he needed me to fill a new role. He challenged me to switch positions from PF to C. He said that due to the way I’d developed, he was sure that I could excel. Since we already has a starting C in Melvin Steele, he was upfront with me that my role would be to come off the bench, but to do so bringing new energy and my improved skills to help lift the team. I knew that Deon Penn had the talent to be a great PF so understood that Deon would take over as the starting PF. Coach Fed said that with Melvin and I spelling each other at C, we'd provide solid interior strength for our team. While of course I’d prefer to be a starter, I accepted Coach Fed’s challenge and have come off the bench this season in every game. I’ve been averaging about 17 mpg. I think that the duo of Melvin and me at C has yielded positive results…a combined 18 ppg, 11 rpg and 3 apg.

The Lumberjacks are 5-0 at home. That sucks! SG Ed Johnson is averaging 18.0 ppg. That sucks also. But we as a team are focused on pulling off a road win.

We started strong, but then the Lumberjacks hit a couple 3’s and the full-house crowd then took us out of our game. We fell behind by as much as 11 points. We mounted a big run late in the half and took a 46-44 lead to the locker room. We outshot Stephen F. Austin 60% to 47% but they hit 6 of 12 from beyond the arc. SF Wayne Burrough was our leading scorer with 9 points. We held the Lumberjacks’ SG Ed Johnson to 5 points but their PG Josh Brown poured in 14 points.

We held a razor-thin lead throughout much of the 2nd half but then seemed to wear down the Lumberjacks and opened an 11 point lead with 4-1/2 minutes remaining. We were cruising. But then we fell apart, the home crowd really got into it, and with 2 minutes left our lead was down to 74-72. A minute later we led by just a single point 75-74. Then with 39 seconds on the clock the Lumberjacks tied the game. The crowd was going crazy rocking the place. After a foul that Coach Fed loudly protested, SFA sunk both free throws with 16 seconds to go and we trailed by 2. We were unable to successfully run the play Coach Fed called and had to force up our final shot which was off the mark. The result was a 77-75 loss. Very disappointing loss since we gave the game away in the final 4 minutes. While we dominated the boards 39-28, we had 18 turnovers to just 8 by Stephen F. Austin.

PF Deon Penn had 16 points and 9 rebounds, SF Wayne Burrough and I each scored 11, and SG Ryan Taylor scored 10. PG Josh Brown pumped in 20 points for Stephen F. Austin.

I didn’t sleep well after this loss. I’m guessing others on the team didn’t either. At breakfast in the morning, guys were still down. Coach Fed told us to put it behind us and focus on preparing for our next game. Before boarding the plane, he pranked Coach Snoddy which cracked us all up and broke the tension.

[PointGuard]

Dec 19, 2021: Towson Tigers (6-3) @ Alcorn State Braves (4-4)

Rob Masters, Graduate Assistant Coach

Defensive Strategy: Alcorn State’s starting guards, Cory Scott and Jonathan Crooks, have combined to average 26 ppg. They and the guards coming off the bench all hit a high percentage of their outside shots. We’re going to employ a man-to-man offense to see if we can keep them from unloading on us from the perimeter. But we’ll intersperse a zone occasionally to keep them off balance. We’re also going to press a lot to try to wear down their guards. PF Matt Linney has been a beast on the boards so we need to try to box him out.

Offensive Strategy: We match up well against the Braves’ big men, so we’re going to try to work the ball inside as much as possible. We’re hoping to jump on them early to make them play catch-up ball. We’re going to try to speed up our offense to possibly reduce turnovers.

1st Half:

18:23—PF Deon Penn called for his 2nd foul on a cheap foul…sending him to the bench.
16:49—2nd foul on PG Adrian Brown and 5th team foul on us. Alcorn State ahead 12-2. No fouls called against the Braves. Crowd noise intense.
15:44—2nd foul on PF Jason Vickers and our 6th team foul. Coach Fed working refs.
14:55—First foul called against Alcorn State.
12:30—Mini-run gets us to within 3 points.
9:30—Porous defense and recurring turnovers by us allow the Braves to go ahead 30-15.

Halftime Score: 47-36 in favor of Alcorn State. Coach Fed roasts the team in the locker room for their half-assed defense that let Acorn State hit 59% of their FG’s and 86% of their 3’s. He also hollers about the 8 turnovers we made. PF Deon Penn only played 7 minutes but scored 8 points.

2nd Half:

17:15—Our 4th turnover of the half. The Braves have scored 8 points to our none and we trail by 19. Coach Fed sits our guards, Adrian Brown and Billy Thomas.
11:12—We scrappily reduce the deficit to 10 points.
9:30—The Braves continue to light it up from 3-point land to go ahead 70-55.
4:31—C Jason Miner buries a 3 to get us to within 7 at 76-69.
2:29—Melvin Steele sinks 2 free throws to make it 76-72.

Final Score: Alcorn State-84, Towson-78.

We fought hard at the end but the Braves hit a 3 and then made free throws when we were forced to foul in the waning moments of the game.

Alcorn State sank 57% of their shots including 69% of their 3’s and made 6 more points at the free throw line than we did. The Braves were on fire offensively throughout the entire game.

Top Scorers: C Jason Miner-22 points plus 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals (the best game of his career); PF Deon Penn-14 points; C Melvin Steele-10 points.

[PointGuard]

WTOW Sports Radio
Interview of Coach Frederick Aura (FA) by sports talk announcer Jim Raymond (JR)
JR: Welcome Coach. I imagine its nice to get your team back to Towson.

FA: Thanks, Jim. Yeah, losing both of our road games this past trip was tough. Particularly so since both losses weren’t by many points. One we blew at the end and the other we were closing at the end but just had too many points to make up to quite make it.

JR: You game this week against George Washington is your final tune-up before conference play begins. Do you think your team is ready.

FA: I’m always want us to be further along, but overall the guys have played pretty well. Even though we lost those last 2 games, we were still very competitive and road games are always tough. I think we’re ready to compete in CAA play. But I’m sure it’s going to be a competitive conference just as it was last season. Nobody will get though it unblemished. I think the main thing is for us to find a way to win on the road with some regularity. We’ve lost 4 of our 6 road games in pre-conference play, but we’ve been in each one…losing by 2, 4, 6 and 9 points. So with just a few breaks or a few less mistakes, we’d be 3-3 or 4-2 on the road now. We just need to figure out how to get over the hump better. I’m confident though…our guys are fighters. One thing that has really be surprising to me is that Adrian Brown, Billy Thomas, Mateen Carroll, and Ross Davis are all hitting well over 50% of their 3’s. And Wayn Burrough hasn’t been as successful from out there, he’s got the form to get up there also. When you look at that stat you might say why not have them shoot more from outside the arc, but I think its best we take the open shots we’re given rather than forcing up shots.

JR: Jason Miner had quite a game against Alcorn State. He seems to be making a bid to start.
FA: Yeah, I’ve really be impressed how he’s developed. We had him change positions this season and it took a while for him to made the adjustment. But he’s scored in double figures the last 3 games. And we’ve been working closely with him on positioning to pull down rebounds. His grabbing 9 in the last game shows that he’s paying attention and give me a lot of faith in how he’s going to do playing center. With regard to starting, Jason gives us a boost coming off the bench and he’s getting nearly the same minutes that starter Melvin Steele is. Both are playing well. With Jason coming on strong means there is no let down when Melvin comes out for a breather or gets into foul trouble.
JR: Others notice too since he was named the Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Week.

FA: Right…and it was well-deserved. Jason was thrilled to receive the award and his teammates all congratulated him. Billy Thomas told Jason that he expects him to get the award every week from now on.

JR: Any other surprises for you with the team this year so far?

FA: Lots of them. Actually, while not totally surprised, I’m really pleased to have subs coming in at each position that are doing well. I like a deep bench and we truly have it this season.

JR: Unlike your first 2 seasons at Towson, everyone on the team is healthy, right?

FA: I don’t want to jinx things so I’ll just say I’m happy with how things have gone thus far.

JR: Good luck with GW, Coach.

FA: Thanks, Jim. The Colonials have played well this year, so they’ll be tough. But our guys want to keep our home record unblemished, so I expect we’ll be out there battling.

[PointGuard]

Dec. 26, 2021: George Washington Colonials (8-2) @ Towson Tigers (6-4)

Zaniya Richardson

Hi. My first time attending a basketball game at Towson. I went to high school with Keirson Stone. We went out a few times but really are just good friends. I’m attending Yale and Keiron and I communicate regularly via social media. He’s been down because he’s not playing much, so I figured since I’m on Christmas break that I would come to the game and then spend some time with him to buoy his spirits.

I don’t get why he’s not playing a lot. He was the star player for our high school team. I like basketball and my brother played but wasn’t all that good. But I haven’t been to a basketball game since going to games while at Kent Island High school here in Maryland. I just don’t have the time at Yale.

Keiron looked good during warmups. The people sitting next to me say George Washington has been playing really well including beating Gonzaga. Since GW isn’t located too far from here there seem to be a lot of their fans at the game.

Keiron told me there was no way he would be starting but when his coach finally subbed out all the starters with the Tigers ahead 11-8, Keiron was left on the bench. I felt like doing a continuous “We Want Keiron!” chant, but figured one person doing that wouldn’t even be heard. After 10 minutes of play, Towson led 17-9, but neither the starter or sub at SF had done anything. Put in Keiron!!! Finally with about 9 minutes left in the half, the sub at SF (Davis is his name) picked up a 2nd foul. And in came Keiron. Damn! Pass the ball to Keiron. He grabbed an offensive rebound and made a nice pass and Towson scored. Good going! Towson up 24-16. Then after a media time out with 7-1/2 minutes left in the half, Keiron’s coach put the starter back in the game. Keiron didn’t even get to play a full 2 minutes. How can a guy show how good he is in that short time? He remained on the bench until he was brought back in to spell the starting SF (Burrough) with 2:43 to go and the Tigers ahead 33-25. With a minute to go Keiron made a slick pass that resulted in a basket for Towson putting them ahead 36-26. Oops! Bad pass by Keiron with 7 seconds remaining. The half ended with Towson on top 36-29. Keiron hadn’t scored by had a rebound and an assist. Not bad for so little playing time.

The Colonials quickly reduced the lead to just 3 points at the beginning of the 2nd half. Bring in Keiron! You need his defense! With 11 minutes to go and Towson ahead 49-40 the coach again brings in another sub for the starter at SF and leaves Keiron sitting. I can see why he’s getting upset. Keiron is finally brought back into the game with 8-1/2 minutes to play with the Tigers holding a 57-43 lead. Keiron picked off a pass and threw a beautiful upcourt pass to Towson’s PG (Carroll) for an uncontested layin for a 20 point lead. Fantastic! Argh, Keiron missed a shot inside. After Keiron had played just over 4 minutes, he was taken out of the game. The game finally ended with Towson drubbing the Colonials 75-56.

Keiron didn’t score but had a rebound, 2 assists and a steal. The only player for Towson to score in double figures was PF Deon Penn who had 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Keiron and I went out and got something to eat after the game. I praised his play and told him the only reason he didn’t score was because he only got one shot. He said that 9 minutes of court time was a lot more than he normally gets (actually it’s the most he’s ever gotten) but he wanted more. He doesn’t think the coaches give him any respect and that they have their “favorites” and he’s not one of those. He said he works hard in practice but the coaches just don’t pay enough attention to him. He’s got a 4.0 GPA, so I said its obvious that he should have gone to Yale where I’m certain he would be getting plenty of playing time. He did an online check of Yale’s stats and said, “Yeah, their SF’s haven’t done much for the team.” He said he doubts that Yale takes many transfer players, though.