FEDORA

[PointGuard]

Feb. 20, 2022: Northeastern Huskies (16-9, 9-5) @ Towson Tigers (17-8, 10-4)

Jack Phillips, Towson student

I love basketball and am an OK intramurals player. I try to get to as many home Tigers games as I can. They’re playing pretty well this season. I’m hoping they up their play a bit so they can make it to the NCAA Tournament. They need to win this game tonight. Towson needs to control the Huskies SF Mike Clyburn. He’s averaging 17.3 ppg.

A combination of turnovers by us and hot shooting by Northeastern put us behind 17-6 early in the game. We then struggled to slowly trim their lead. Finally with 2:54 left in the half, C Jason Minor hit a bucket and was fouled. He made the free throw to tie the game at 32-32. On our next possession, Minor was again fouled. He made one of two free throws to put us ahead 33-32. The Huskies scored 6 straight points before we hit a bucket at the buzzer to put us down 40-37 at the intermission. Since we let Northeaster hit 50% of their FG attempts and 50% of their 3’s, Coach Aura decided to go strictly with man-to-man defense to start the 2nd half.

Defense predominated in the 2nd half. We steadily pulled ahead as we forced the Huskies to make frequent turnovers and force up contested shots that failed to fall through the hoop. We continued to stretch our lead and came away with a 69-56 victory.

C Melvin Steele had a big game with 12 points and 12 rebounds. PG Adrian Brown scored 11 while dishing out 5 assists.

[PointGuard]

Feb. 23, 2022: Towson Tigers (18-8, 11-4) @ NC-Wilmington Seahawks (14-12, 8-7)

Tiger Blog

NC-Wilmington has been an inconsistent team this season. Towson beat them 72-55 earlier this season but playing on the Seahawks home court was sure to make this a much more difficult game for the Tigers.

And difficult it was in the first half. NC-Wilmington burned the nets and cruised to a commanding 51-34 halftime advantage. The Seahawks’ C Leon Howard scored 16 points and PG Mike Clay dropped in 11 points.

The Tigers defense tightened in the 2nd half. But more importantly their offense kicked into high gear with their guard tandem of Adrian Brown and Billy Thomas igniting and scoring from all over the court. With 5-1/2 minutes left, Towson had completely turned the game around and led by 12 points. NC-Wilmington fought back to narrow the gap, but Towson held on for a 90-85 win. The Tigers 61 points in the 2nd half was their highest scoring half of the entire season.

PG Adrian Brown and SG Billy Thomas each scored 26 points with Brown also adding 5 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 blocks. SF Wayne Burrough had 14 points and C Jason Miner hit for 13 together with 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and a block. Towson hit an amazing 21 of 33 from beyond the arc with Brown and Thomas combining to knock down 15 of 25 of their 3’s.

“Adrian and Billy caught fire and fed off each other in the 2nd half. It was great to see them both play with such a high level of confidence,” said Coach Aura.

Unfortunately Charleston pulled off a 4 point road win over Northeastern. That keeps the Cougars 2 games ahead of Towson with just 2 games left in the season. Charleston visits Towson for the final game of the season, but before that Charleston has a home game against NC-Wilmington before that whereas Towson has to visit William & Mary.

[PointGuard]

Feb. 27, 2022: Towson Tigers (19-8, 12-4) @ William & Mary Tribe (12-15, 9-7)

Paul and Charlotte Devaney, Towson basketball fans

We drove down I-95 and I-64 so we could visit Colonial Williamsburg. It’s nice going there this time of year since there are a lot of other tourists to contend with. We’re season ticket holders for Towson’s home games, so we came to their game against William & Mary tonight. Kaplan Arena holds over 8,600 fans. While it’s not completely full, there are a lot of William & Mary fans here. Jim and Jane Kaplan gave a $7-million grant for William & Mary basketball in 2005 and in 2016 provided a huge monetary commitment for basketball scholarships for years to come.

The first half was close throughout and finished with the two teams tied at 33-33. The defensive battle resulted in both teams hitting less than 40% of their FG attempts. In contrast to how he normally rotates players, Coach Aura kept his starting 5 on the floor for most of the half.

Towson pulled ahead immediately in the 2nd half and held a small lead for the first 6 minutes. With their defense continuing to frustrate the Tribe, the Tigers then gained control and opened a 12 point lead midway through the half. William & Mary fought hard to get back into the game, but each time they narrowed the difference, Towson responded to keep a solid lead. When the buzzer sounded ending the game, Towson had achieved a 72-63 road win to send the Tribe’s fans home sad. Towson’s defense together with total domination of the boards (46-35) were the foundations of the Tigers success.

The Tigers had 4 players scoring in double figures, led by C Jason Miner’s 15 points (he also had 10 rebounds). PG Adrian Brown, C Melvin Steele, and PF Deon Penn each scored 13 points with Penn also pulling down 13 boards.

[PointGuard]

Tiger Blog

The “CENTER TANDEM”

It’s interesting to look at the Center position for Towson. That position is filled by Melvin Steele and Jason Miner. Even though Steele is the starter, the minutes are closely shared and they’ve created what some call the “Center Tandem”. And though their styles and capabilities are a little different, the results are eerily alike. Since both tend to fatigue fairly quickly, it’s fortunate for Coach Aura that he has two players who can get in there and get the job done. On any given night, one of the other will be amongst the leaders for the Tigers and…like in last night’s game…occasionally both are. Their season stats are surprisingly similar and when there stats are combined, it become apparent that the two players produce more for the team than any other position.

When asked about sharing the Center position, Steele said, “Jason and I are best of friends thatand supportive of each other. Some games one of us will play great and the other not so great, but we both give each other a pat on the back after every game.” Miner responded, “And when we both play great, we high five. Coach Fed told me to just go out and do the best I can every time I go out onto the court and promised that, even though I’m not starting, I’d get my share of the minutes.” Steele added, “Yeah, when I see Jason coming on the court, I’m usually so tired I’m relieved to get a breather.”

“Jason’s first year at Towson was also my first year here. Melvin already had a year of Division I experience and Jason needed some time to get used to playing college ball plus he came to us as a PF rather than a C, so Melvin played a lot more that season than did Jason. That disparity in playing time reduced significantly the next season and has basically disappeared this season. Fortunately these guys have an “us” attitude, a “team” attitude rather than “me” attitude. I’m spoiled by being able to switch the two of them in and out of games and know that their level of play is so similar that it just means things get better by fresh legs being on the court,” said Coach Aura. “And I think it’s frustrating for our opponents to know that there is no diminution in play when we sub at the 5.”

When asked about the “Center Tandem” term, Coach Aura said its been used within the team for quite a while, but he just recently mentioned it in an interview, so its now taking on a resonance with fans and the media.

Steele is a senior and Miner is a junior, so this will be the final “Center Tandem” season at Towson. “I’m going to hate losing my ‘twin’”, said Miner. Waiting in the wings is what some believe will be a huge presence: C Donny Flint is riding out his year of ineligibility due to transferring. Flint has been billed as a likely dominant force for Towson and within the Colonial Athletic Association. Time will tell if this is correct and what that portends for Jason Miner next season.

[PointGuard]

Mar. 2, 2022: Charleston Cougars (21-7, 15-2) @ Towson Tigers (20-8, 13-4)

2nd Assistant Coach Michael Snoddy

Since Charleston has locked down 1st place and we’ve locked down 2nd place in the Colonial Athletic Association standings, this game is purely for bragging rights and gaining a psychological edge should the two teams meet again in the CAA Tournament.

Coach Aura again went primarily with the starts plus Jason Miner. Charleston jumped ahead and opened a 12 point lead with 11 minutes to play in the first half. But our guys fought back to narrow the gap and by the end of the half trailed by just a 33-32 score.

Our big men gained control over their counterparts on the Cougars in the 2nd half. By the end of the game we held a commanding 42-24 rebounding advantage and Charleston had no offensive rebounds the entire game. The dominance made it possible for our guys to run away from Charleston in the 2nd half. We continually expanded our lead throughout the final 20 minutes of the game and slapped down Charleston 83-64.

PG Adrian Brown had another big game, scoring 27 points. PF Deon Penn had another double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds plus he had 3 steals and 2 blocks. SG Billy Thomas added 12 points. C Jason Minor had 9 points and 12 rebounds.

[PointGuard]

Towerlight (Towson University student newspaper) article:

BROWN BECOMES RED(HOT)

Adrian Brown’s season can be segmented into 3 parts, early, midpoint, and late. In the early (first 13 games) he averaged 6.5 ppg. During the mid-point (3 games) he averaged 9.7 ppg. Then during the late period (final 13 games) he averaged 14.5 ppg. And during the final portion of the late period (last 3 games of the season), he averaged 22.0 ppg.

This coincides directly with the Tigers success. During the first 13 games (early period), the team’s record was 7-6. But during the final 16 games (mid-point and late periods) the team has won 14 and lost 2.

“You know, we have realized that Adrian’s really picked up his game as the season has progressed, but your analysis is illuminating. So I guess we can say, ‘As Adrian goes, so goes our team’. I think that something in Adrian got triggered midway through out season. Maybe it was disappointment that our team hadn’t been as successful as we’d all thought it would be. Or maybe it was that his collegiate career was quickly winding down and soon he’d graduate and this would all be history,” said Coach Aura. “No matter what it was, I’m sure glad it occurred. He’s been a key component of our team throughout his two seasons with us, but his leadership role of late has really blossomed.”

“I don’t know that I changed so much. I think maybe it’s just that I finally had a few consecutive good games and my confidence level increased,” said Brown. “And then my teammates picked up on that and it all sort of melded together and expanded. I’m proud of how well our team has played during the latter half of this season. Now we want to carry our high level of play into and throughout the CAA Tournament. Tournament play is always sort of a crap shoot, but positive attitude helps a lot.”

The Tigers will begin CAA Tournament play this coming Tuesday against the winner of the NC-Wilmington/Elon play-in game.

[PointGuard]

COLONIAL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION STANDINGS, 2021-2022 SEASON

Perry Winkle, Towson's Athletic Director

I was hoping we'd finish on top of the standings, but 2nd place is pretty good and we came on strong toward the end of the season.

Even though Charleston finished one-game ahead of us in the standings, we beat them handily in both games this season. So I think we have a pretty good chance in the CAA Tournament.

[PointGuard]

Colonial Athletic Association Tournament

Play-in

#10 seed Elon Phoenix (4-25, 1-15) vs #7 seed NC-Wilmington Seahawks (14-15, 8-10): NC-Wilmington was stone-cold early in the first half and fell behind by 14 points before finally getting their act together. Elon led by just a single point at the break, 31-30. The game stayed close throughout the 2nd half. But NC-Wilmington opened a 6 point lead with 3 minutes to play and then held on to eke out a 74-70 victory. The Seahawks won the game at the free throw line where they scored 12 more points than Elon. SF Ken Thomas scored 15 points for the Seahawks and SF Timmy Hayes hit for 18 for Elon.

#9 seed Delaware FIghtin’ Blue Hens (4-25, 4-14) vs #8 seed Hofstra Pride (11-18, 7-11): Delaware stomped Hofstra in the first half and went to the locker room in total control 47-29. But the Fightin’ Blue Hens’ stout first half defense totally dissolved in the 2nd half allowing Hofstra to not only erase the Delaware lead but go ahead by as much as 10 points. The Pride came away with an exciting 85-80 win. Hofstra held a 22-10 turnover advantage and also hit 15 of 31 from 3-point land. PG Norman Cherry scored 25 points and SG Landry hit for 21 points for Hofstra. C Virgil Charity led Delaware with 13 points.

Quarterfinals

#8 seed Hofstra Pride (12-18, 7-11) vs #1 seed Charleston Cougars (21-8, 15-3): Charleston scored first and never trailed in this game. At the half they had doubled Hofstra’s score at 44-22. Hofstra chipped away at the Cougars’ lead in the 2nd half but never got close enough to throw a scare into the Cougars. Charleston advanced by defeating Hofstra 81-72. SG Grant Hopkins scored 24 points to lead the Cougars attack. SG Landry Townes topped Hofstra’s scoring with 18 points.

#7 seed NC-Wilmington Seahawks (15-15, 8-10) vs #2 seed Towson Tigers (21-8, 14-4): Towson topped NC-Wilmington by 72-55 and 95-90 scores during regular season play.

In this game, Towson held the lead during most of the first half but at the break N-C Wilmington was behind by just 2 points at 40-38. In the 2nd half, the Tigers fired away from outside and hit enough of their 3’s to open as much as a 17 point lead before settling with a 90-80 victory. PG Adrian Brown hit for 23 points, SF Wayne Burrough dropped in 19 points, C Melvin Steele recorded a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds, PF Deon Penn had 10 points and 8 boards, C Jason Minor had 9 points, PG Mateen Carroll had 11 assists, and SG Ryan Taylor scored 9 points in 9 minutes of play for Towson. C Rylan Card came off the bench to lead the Seahawk’s scoring with 18 points.

#6 seed Drexel Dragons (14-15, 10-8) vs #3 seed James Madison Dukes (14-15, 11-7): James Madison led throughout most of the first half and went to the locker room with a 29-25 advantage. But Drexel’s second half defense crimped the Dukes play and with good shooting, Drexel overtook and pulled away to score a 66-54 minor upset. Drexel spread their scoring amongst all 10 players with C Mike King being their top scorer with 10 points. James Madison’s PF Rowan Besecker scored 12 points.

#5 seed Northeastern Huskies (17-12, 10-8) vs #4 seed William & Mary Tribe (13-16, 10-8): William & Mary jumped ahead and steadily built a lead in the first half finishing it with a 43-31 lead. The Tribe kept the pressure on in the 2nd half and again pulled further and further away to post an 86-66 thumping of the Huskies. 6th man forward Matt Holt led William & Mary with 16 points and PF Sean Scott had a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards. Reserve PF Omar Abney came in off the bench to score 12 points, grab 11 rebounds, and make 3 blocks for Northeastern.

Semi-Finals

#4 seed William & Mary Tribe (14-16, 10-8) vs #1 seed Charleston Cougars (22-8, 15-3): The two teams kicked and scratched throughout first half with the Tribe coming out on top 47-44. As the 2nd half progressed, William & Mary began to pull away and finished with an 86-75 upset win. PG Kueth Johnson’s 32 points and C Steve Webber’s 15 points and 11 rebounds devastated the favored Cougars. Charleston’s SF Russell Brown scored 14 points plus had 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 steals.

#6 seed Drexel Dragons (15-15, 10-8) vs #2 seed Towson Tigers (22-8, 14-4): Towson and Drexel split their regular season contests, each winning on the other team’s floor. PF Deon Penn scored 50 points in those two games for Towson.

The game was close in the first 10 minutes with 6 lead changes and 5 ties with PG Adrian Brown sustaining an injury 5 minutes into the game. But in the latter stages of the first half the Tigers clamped down defensively to sport a 30-21 lead at the break. Towson slowly pulled further ahead in the 2nd half, leading at one point by 16 points. Towson struggled late in the half as Drexel got close. The Tigers then put on a spurt to top the Dragons by a final score of 77-66. PF Deon Penn had another strong game with 20 points. SF Wayne Burrough shot well to score 17 points and C Melvin Steele scored 8 and had 11 rebounds. SG Nathaniel Keys and PF Shawn King both scored 13 points for Drexel.

Championship

#4 seed William & Mary Tribe (15-16, 10-8) vs Towson Tigers (23-8, 14-4): Towson beat the Tribe in both their games this season, but PG Adrian Brown’s back injury has finished his collegiate career. Mateen Carroll started at PG. Before the game Coach Aura said, “It’s tough for us to lose Adrian, but I really feel sorry for him. He’s been leading us so well and I know how much he was looking forward see how far we could go. Mateen is a good replacement, but it means we’re really short-handed at the guard positions. And we’re going to have to work hard to keep Kueth Johnson from duplicating what he did against Charleston last night.”

The Tribe and Tigers battled it out early with 10 lead changes and 8 ties before Towson went on a run at the end of the half to pull ahead 41-31 at the break. In the 2nd half, William & Mary made a couple runs to cut into the Tigers lead, but Towson had an answer each time and gradually padded their lead. The Tigers won the CAA Tourney championship by downing the Tribe 72-58. PG Mateen Carroll stepped into the starting role by scoring a team-high 16 points. PF Deon Penn hit for 12 points while collecting 8 rebounds. C Melvin Steele scored 11 and SG Ryan Taylor added 10. The Tribe’s SG Marino Barnes scored 17 points, but the Tigers held PG Kueth Johnson to 5 points on 2 for 14 shooting from the field including just 1 of 10 from beyond the arc.

“Our defense was just stellar tonight. With the exception of Marino Barnes, we contained all their players,” proclaimed coach Frederick Aura. “And Mateen did a great job at the point and deserved getting the game ball. We’re ecstatic about winning the tournament and excited to head to the NCAA Tournament.”

[PointGuard]

NCAA Tournament Selection Show:

#1 seeds: Michigan State, Syracuse, Texas, and Oregon

Towson is the #11 seed in the South Region and will play #6 seed and #23 ranked Utah State (25-8).

CAA Teams in other Tournaments:

NIT:

Charleston is the #6 seed in the South Region and will place #3 seed Nevada.

Charleston lost 77-72 to Nevada in the first round. SG Grant Hopkins had 16 points for Charleston.

CIT:

Northeastern is the #7 seed in the South Region and will play #2 seed St. Louis.

Northeastern beat St. Louis 74-67 in the first round. SF Mike Clyburn scored 16 points for Northeastern.

In the 2nd round Northeastern played #3 seed Binghamton (20-11)

Northeaster lost 70-66 to Binghamton in the 2nd round. SF Mike Clyburn scored 28 points for Northeastern.

NCAA Tournament Results:

#11 seed Towson Tigers (24-8) vs #6 seed, #23 ranked Utah State Aggies (25-8)

SF Wayne Burrough: We practiced with crowd noise audio cranked up to near-deafening levels. But the atmosphere with all these fans in here is different. As Coach Fed said, we just have to focus on executing on each possession and not worry about the crowd. Most of this crowd has never even heard of “Towson” and nobody thinks we have a chance. We gotta surprise everyone.
Coach Aura: As much as I know they’re trying to relax, the guys look tight during our warmup. So just before the game started I told them about the one time when I was playing for East Tennessee State that we made it to the Big Dance and how I tripped and fell on my face as we ran out onto the court before the game. Cracked the guys up, so hopefully they loosen up when the game starts.
SG Billy Thomas: Big challenge for me tonight trying guard Utah State’s high scoring SG Jonathan Broderick and keep him from hitting his 20+ points per game average. The guy is quick and elusive though. My teammates will be sliding over to double team him to help me out so I just gotta keep in his face…maybe deny him getting the ball some.
C Melvin Steele: Crowds so loud I can barely think…but need to concentrate on what I’m doing. Wanna win this jump ball.
SG Billy Thomas: Alright, got Broderick to throw the ball away after the Aggies controlled the tip off…..Damn! They picked off MY pass.
PF Deon Penn: Nice offensive rebound by Big Mel (Steele) and put back for our first score (3-2 Utah State).
SG Ryan Taylor: Yeah, getting into the game at 17:13 mark. Coach Fed making good on rotating Mateen, Billy and me at the guard positions. My turn to tail Broderick. Hope to get a quick touch to get the nerves settled. Need to cut into their 9-6 lead…..Crap, these guys are hitting from all over, 11-6 now….Yeah! Billy (Thomas) fed me along the right baseline and I put up a quick jumper than went down making it 11-8.
Omar McDade, 1st Asst Coach: First media time out with us behind 13-8. Utah State on fire, hitting 6 of 9 from the field. 4 turnovers by us already so we only have 6 shots…fortunately have hit on 4 of them. Crash (Coach Aura) is on the guys about protecting the ball.
C Jason Miner: Refs call on me when Aggies going for put-back wasn’t right. I got all ball. At least he only hits one of 2 but it’s now 18-8. We need to convert on this next possession.
Coach Aura: Damn it! Quit throwing the ball away! That’s our 6th turnover in just over 6 minutes. Make good passes. (21-9)
Coach Aura: Alright! Nice work Billy (Thomas). 3 touches by Broderick on that possession and he coulnd’t get off a shot. Forced the Aggies into a shot clock violation.
Michael Snoddy: 2nd media time out with us behind 21-11. We’re having trouble with their 3-2 zone so Coach Aura is working out a couple plays for us to run….Mateen Carroll runs the play to perfection and his cut across the key opens a clear shot that goes down. (21-13)
SF Wayne Burrough: Deon (Penn) icked off a pass and made a quick toss up to me as I went downcourt for a layup. Made it and was fouled. Sunk the free throw to shrink their lead to 22-17 with 9-1/2 minutes to go in the half.
PF Deon Penn: The Aggies really working the ball inside. Too many easy baskets. I pick up my 2nd foul which sends me to the bench. (25-17)
Coach Aura: Media TO with 7:12 left: We’re down 27-20. I chew on the refs for the latest foul call. The guys are playing hard, but Utah State is shooting well even though our defense is sound. I just try pumping the guys up at this point.
Keiron Stone, SF: Two consecutive stolen passes leads to 2 quick fast break scores by Utah State making it 35-22. Coach Fed calls a TO to try to stem the Aggies momentum. Put me in Coach!
Matt Heard, walkon SF: Final media TO at 2:54 mark with us trailing 39-26. Coach Fed working on tightening our defense and pats Mateen (Carroll) on back as he sends him out to shoot 2 free throws.
Adrian Brown, injured PG: Halftime with Utah State leading 46-33. Having to sit on the bench with this freakin’ back injury is killing me. Our guys have played OK, but the Aggies are on fire, hitting 55% of their FG’s. We started out shooting well, but then cooled off and finished the half hitting just 33% of our shots. Also our 11 turnovers have led to too many streaking fast breaks. Billy (Thomas) and Ryan (Taylor) have done a great job on Broderick. He’s only got off 4 shots and missed them all! But the real damage was done by their big men inside with C Mario Lytle scoring 13 and PF Merv Reid notching 14 points. Then late in the half, SF Brandon Seegars drained three 3’s to finish with 13 points. So those 3 guys have 40 of the Aggies 46 points. Wayne (Burrough) was our top scorer with 11 points. Man, am I bummed that I can’t play. My only chance to play in the Big Dance and I blow it with a bad back.
Michael Snoddy, 2nd Asst Coach: Coach Aura wants the guys to press in the 2nd half and crash the boards harder.
Matt Heard, walkon SF: Great start! On the first possession of the half, Deon (Penn) hits a 3 from the left sideline to cut the lead to 10.
SG Billy Thomas: The Aggies sure are quick. They keep turning our stolen passes into driving layups. We’re down 55-42.
Omar McDade, 1st Asst Coach: Had to pull Crash back. The refs tagged Wayne (Burrough) with his 4th foul and I thought Crash was gonna lose it. (55-44)
SF Russ Davis: Our offense is doing pretty well but we still can’t stop the Aggies from hitting a high percentage of their shots whether we are in m-2-m or 2-3 zone. (64-51)
Coach Aura: Media time out with 7:26 to play and us down 72-57. The team responded well to the concern I expressed to the team about our turnovers (17 thus far) and our interior defense.
Omar McDade, 1st Asst Coach: Wayne (Burrough) fouls out with 5:20 to go. Bad news since he’s been our most productive player offensively tonight. (77-62)
SG Ryan Taylor: We are scoring, but each time we do they convert a shot so we can’t make a serious dent in the margin. 4 minutes to go and we’re down 82-68.
Matt Heard, walkon SF: Wow! Billy (Thomas) just picked off a pass, cut upcourt and made a beautiful alley-oop pass to Jason (Vickers) who jammed it down. Got me off the bench yelling and screaming even though we’re down 86-73 with 2-1/2 minutes left. Our guys are continuing to fight and not giving in.
Michael Snoddy, 2nd Asst Coach: With 1:51 to go and us behind by 14, Coach Aura puts our two walkons into the game so everyone will get to say they played in the NCAA Tournament. He set up a play for the two of them and they executed a nice pick and roll with Alex (Haywood) getting as assist and Matt (Heard) sinking a 12 foot jumper. (87-78)
Coach Aura: We put up a good fight, but lost 91-80. Utah State just stayed hot all throughout the game, hitting 55% of their FG’s. And our 19 turnovers were killers, giving the Aggies 18 points on fast breaks. We did a fantastic job in shutting down their top scorer, SG Jonathan Broderick. He played 32 minutes and hit just 1 of 10 shots to finish with only 2 points. But their interior players dominated inside with PF Merv Reid scoring 18, C Mario Lytle hitting for 17 points, and C Kyle Dillon coming off the bench to add 10. And from the outside, SF Brandon Seegars scorched the nets for 26 points. For us, we had 4 players scoring in double figures: SF Wayne Burrough, 16 points and PF Deon Penn, PG Mateen Carroll and SG Billy Thomas each scoring 10. C Melvin Steele had 8 points and 11 rebounds. With a couple late buckets, every one of our 12 players scored at least 2 points so everyone can say they scored in the NCAA Tournament. Our season ended but we won 17 of our last 19 games before the NCAA Tournament and 24 games throughout the entire season, so I’m proud of how the guys played.

Tournament Championship Games:

NCAA: Georgetown-70, Texas-69
NIT: Florida State-88, Arizona-80
CBI: Louisiana State-80, Wright State-75
CIT: Virginia-79, Fairleigh Dickinson-62

[PointGuard]

[b]Awards

Perry Winkle:/b]

Our team had a great season. And there were some impressive Colonial Athletic Association awards presented as follows:

Player of the Year: PF Deon Penn

1st Team All-Conference: PF Deon Penn

Coach of the Year: Frederick Aura

Coach Aura greatly exceeded my goals this season. And while we expected a lot from Deon Penn, he played even better than we anticipated.