FEDORA

[PointGuard]

Jan. 12, 2024: Towson Tigers (12-2, 3-1) @ Drexel Dragons (7-7, 0-3)

Coach Frederick Aura

To be blunt…I’m not happy about how we’re playing right now. We looked horrible in the loss to Hofstra and our energy level was way down against Elon. Our guys seem to think they can sleep walk through these conference games
.
We won this game 73-60. While we shot poorly, hitting just 37% of our shots, we knocked down 8 of 15 three’s and did a great job blocking out and positioning so that we had a 47-35 rebounding advantage. We were only up by 5 at the end of the first half, but played some very good defense in the 2nd half so that we could stretch out our lead.

Our front line played well with C Donny Flint scoring 11 and hauling down 18 boards, PF Kevin Holmes hitting for 15 points, grabbing 9 rebounds, and getting 4 blocks and a steal, and SF Wayne Burrough finishing with 8 points and 7 rebounds. PG Shaun White scored 14 points.

Not a great game but a win is a win on the road. Hofstra continued to win, so we remain a game behind in a 3-way tie for 2nd place.

[PointGuard]

Tiger Blog

Towson’s latest 3-game win streak has resulted in the Tigers moving into the Top 25 in the Media Poll. Towson is ranked #22. Their RPI is now 12th highest in the country. Perry Winkle, Towson’s AD, said, “I thought the team should have broken into the Top 25 earlier this season. But it’s good to see them in there now. It’s well deserved. The team has been playing exceptionally well this season.”

[PointGuard]

Jan. 16, 2024: Northeastern Huskies (6-9, 2-2) @ #22-ranked Towson Tigers (13-2, 3-1)

Gary Stevens, Towson Student and Stats Nerd

Towson has averaged 81.4 ppg (9th best) while their opponents have only averaged 70.1 ppg (138th best). The Tigers are hitting 47.7% of their FGA’s (35th best) and 39.1% of their 3PA’s (26th best) but only 70.3% of their FTA’s (216th best). They also are averaging 35.2 rpg (39th best).

Northeastern are averaging 70.1 ppg (194th best) and their opponents are averaging 76.9 ppg (321st best). The Huskies FG% is 43.6% (223rd best), their 3P% is 31.9% (281st best) and FT% is 67.3% (288th best). They average 31.6 rpg (183rd best).

On paper, tonight’s game should be a blow-out win for Towson. But the Tigers pre-conference success has been somewhat muted in CAA play. I’m predicting the final score will be 82-66 in favor of Towson.

The Huskies SG Marqus Cook is averaging 17.3 ppg and PF Justin Malloy is averaging 10.2 ppg. Towson’s best scorers are: C Donny Flint (14.7 ppg) and SG Dominick Collins (11.2 ppg).

Towson’s PF Kevin Holmes has a strained knee. It’s not been disclosed whether that will keep him out of the game or he will play in a limited fashion.

The game’s starting. Donyell Porter is starting in place of Kevin Holmes at PF for the Tigers. This could create a problem since both Porter and Donny Flint have had a tendency to pick up early fouls in many of the Tigers games.

Off the tip off, the Tigers quickly brought it down court and Shaun White Fed a pass to Flint in the key. Flint put the ball on the floor and drove toward the basket, pulling up to put in a short 5 footer that went it. He was fouled on the shot and converted the free throw making it 3-0 just 7 seconds into the game. Porter picked up 2 fouls on the ensuing possession by the Huskies and he went to the bench after just 49 seconds of play. Damn! Holmes replaced him. Flint scored 8 of Towson’s first 10 points, but picked up his first foul at the 17:41 mark. Holmes only played about 2 minutes. He had 2 assists, but seemed to be labored. With 15:44, Flint got tagged with his 2nd foul and went to the bench with Towson on top 11-3. The refs call the 2nd foul on Northeastern’s SG Marqus Cook at the 13:23 mark, equalizing things a bit. This could be a game decided by who has the best bench. With 5:44 left in the half, Towson was ahead 32-18 due to their hitting over 70% of their shots. The half ended with Towson holding a 47-31 edge. The Tigers hit 63% of their shots and held a 12-6 turnover advantage. C Donny Flint had returned the court and scored 15 points and SF Mac McCaffery hit for 9 points in 8 minutes of play.

In the first 4 minutes in the 2nd half, Towson had gone on a run that had increased their lead to 61-35. The Tigers lead was 30 with 12 minutes remaining in the game. With Coach Aura playing mainly subs, the Huskies cut into the lead but never threatened. Towson came away with a solid 90-77 stomping of Northeastern. The Tigers outshot the Huskies 57% to 50%, out-rebounded Northeastern 30-28, and had a 17-12 turnover advantage. Towson had a 34-12 advantage on points-in-the-paint and an 11-4 advantage on 2nd chance points.

Five of the Tigers scored in double figures: C Donny Flint-22; SF Wayne Burrough-16; SG Dominick Collins-14; PG Shaun White-12; SF Mac McCaffery-11.
Towson is now in sole possession of 2nd place, a game behind 5-0 Hofstra.

[PointGuard]

Jan. 19, 2024: #22-ranked Towson Tigers (14-2, 4-1) @ NC-Wilmington Seahawks (8-8, 2-3)

CSPN (Cable Sports Network) Top 25 Results
It’s not often we report on conference results for a Colonial Athletic Association team. But this year there is a CAA team in the Top 25. Towson University is ranked #22 and they travelled to North Carolina to take on NC-Wilmington earlier tonight. Towson snuck into the Top 25 at the very end of last season…a year when the Tigers won their first round game in the NCAA Tournament. This season they significantly upped the level of their pre-conference competition and won 10 of those 11 games and finally last week were rewarded in the polls. Things looked rosy for Towson in the CAA, but then they got routed in their first conference game. They then won 4 straight conference games before tonight’s game. The only team they were trailing in the CAA standings, Hofstra, lost earlier today so if the Tigers could pull off a road win against the NC-Wilmington Seahawks, they’d be tied for the top spot in the CAA. But the Seahawks are no pushover even though they’ve been inconsistent this season. They had a big road win when they ripped the Nebraska Cornhuskers in early December. Then in CAA play they started out with two wins but then lost their next 3 games including a home game against Hofstra…much like what Towson experienced playing Hofstra.

Here’s some video of Towson’s game tonight against the Seahawks:

• The Seahawks win the tip off but Towson’s C Donny Flint steps in front of a pass into the lane and makes a great outlet pass to PG Shaun White who beats the defender for a slick layup.
• Midway through the first half Calvin Williams receives a pass down low from Jon Spann. Williams clears it out to Russ Davis on the right side who puts it on the floor, makes a great cross-over dribble to get clear of his defender and puts up the jumper to make it 24-18 in favor of the Tigers.
• Late in the half, Towson’s Wayne Burrough sinks a long 3 to increase the lead to 7.
• The first half ended with Towson on top 39-30 even though the Tigers’ star center Donny Flint only played 8 minutes due to foul trouble.
• In the second half the lead expanded to 11 but the Seahawks’ John Shine cut into that lead with this nice 3.
• Here we see Donyell Porter take a pass to the right of the key. He takes his man to the basket and muscles up a shot that falls in and is fouled. Porter then sinks the free throw to make it 63-51 with 10 minutes remaining.
• But 3 minutes later NC-Wilmington clawed their way back to within 4 points.
• With 2-1/2 minutes to go the Seahawks’ Josh Pack took the ball on the end line and drove to the basket. His finger roll slipped into the basket to cut Towson’s lead further at 68-65.
• Then Towson’s Shaun White brought the ball down to the top of the key, kicked over to Jon Span on the left side. Span fires it back to White who had stepped back outside the line and White buried a 3.
• NC-Wilmington refused to give in as Josh Pack kissed in a basket off the glass and hit a subsequent free throw to again make it a 3 point game with 1:48 left.
• After both teams hit field goals, Donny Flint was called for travelling with 39 seconds on the clock.
• Mike Clay hit a 14 foot jumper to make it 73-72.
• With 13 seconds to go, NC-Wilmington’s Byron Humphries intercepted a pass. Towson's Jon Spann dove and deflected the ball out of bounds with 2 seconds remaining. The inbounds pass went to Clay whose hurried 3 attempt rattled in and out of the basket.
• Towson escaped in a 73-72 thriller.

The game was won by Towson’s guards…with Shaun White dropping in 20 points and Dominick Collins and Jon Spann each scoring 10. White also had 7 assists.

Towson is now tied with Hofstra for the conference lead.

After the game, our Alicia Carlisle (AC) caught up with Towson’s Coach Frederick Aura (FA):

• AC: Coach, congratulations on your win tonight.
• FA: Thank you, Alicia. While it’s one that could easily have gone either way, it’s definitely nice to be on the winning side. The way the Seahawks came back in the final minutes took a few years off my lifespan.
• AC: You did it without a lot of front line production. That’s pretty unusual for your team, isn’t it?
• FA: Yes, but I’m glad the backcourt took up the slack. Donny Flint got into foul trouble and then when he got back into the game, he just didn’t really get into the flow. And due to his back pain, we again didn’t start Kevin Holmes. We brought him in for short spells, but his injury definitely limited his effectiveness. Not only did that affect our scoring, but also our rebounding. Fortunately SF Wayne Burrough picked up some of the slack, although I think the effort he had to put into attacking the boards affected his scoring.
• AC: But your guards really were successful tonight.
• FA: That didn’t surprise me. They’re a good bunch. But tonight they hit over 50% of their field goals. And they made 5 out of the 6 three-point shots they took. They also had 13 assists. Shaun White, in particular, had a big night and 14 of his 20 points came in second half so he was carrying us. And Jon Spann tipping the ball out of bounds with just 2 seconds to go created the desperation shot by the Seahawks at the buzzer. But my heart was in my throat when that shot nearly went in.
• AC: You seemed to be upset with the refs tonight.
• FA: Every coach gets upset with the refs at times. But there was only one foul called on NC-Wilmington the entire 2nd half. I’ll leave it at that.
• AC: Thank you Coach. Your team is back on top in the Colonial Athletic Association and your two wins this week should solidify your inclusion in the Top 25.
• FA: Now it’s time to get ready for our next game.

[PointGuard]

Jan. 23, 2024: Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens (4-13, 0-6) @ #22-ranked Towson Tigers (15-2, 5-1)

Janeka Aura, wife of Head Coach Frederick Aura

We have the entire family here tonight. Fred won't admit it, but he's pretty excited about his team being ranked in the polls. Our boys actually jumped right on their homework as soon as they got home from school and basketball practice so they could come to the game. It’s now been nearly 4 months since the beginning of practice. Fred gets so involved with his team that it’s good when the kids can get to a game. Even if they can’t talk with him then, they can see him and feel closer to him.

The Tigers went ahead 8-0 after just 2 minutes of play. Kevin Holmes was starting again even though he’s still not 100%. He hit 2 quick baskets. After 5 minutes of play, Towson was on top 17-2. With 9:15 remaining in the half, our lead had ballooned to 21 points. With 3 minutes left the lead was 30. The half ended with the score: Towson-48, Delaware-17. Team stats showed the Tigers with advantages throughout: 58% to 21% in FG%, 21-12 in rebounds, and 9-4 in turnovers. PF Kevin Holmes and SG Dominick Collins both scored 11 points.

The Tigers slept through the first 5 minutes of the 2nd half allowing Delaware to cut the lead to 17 points. But Towson then woke up and again pull away to achieve a 79-50 blowout victory. The Tigers completely dominated the boards, 47-26.

C Donny Flint had a big double-double, 19 points and 17 rebounds. SF Wayne Burrough scored 15, PG/SG Jon Spann hit for 11 points, and PG Shaun White had 10 points and 6 assists.

[PointGuard]

Jan. 26, 2024: #22-ranked Towson Tigers (16-2, 6-1) @ Charleston Cougars (10-10, 4-3)

Graduate Assistant Coach Adrian Brown

Coach Fed’s mother is undergoing an operation so he’s not with us. 1st Assistant Coach Kenyon Haynes is handling the team tonight.

Charleston jumped out in front and built a 9 point lead. But we chipped away and the lead flip-flopped throughout the final 10 minutes of the half. We trailed by a slim 44-42 margin at the break. Our comeback was spearheaded by our guards. PG Shaun White scored 14 points.

We began taking charge in the 2nd half. While we never built a huge lead, we held a lead most all the way and finished by gaining an 88-78 road victory over Charleston.

PG Shaun White had a double-double with 24 points and 11 assists and he also had 2 steals and 2 blocks. SG Dominick Collins scored 11, PG Matt Faust had 11 points, and PG/SG Jon Spann added 8 points. C Donny Flint scored 9 and had 14 rebounds. SF Russell Brown scored 22 for the Cougars.

Hofstra continued to win so we’re still tied with them for 1st place in the CAA.

On the weekend following this game, we moved up to #19 in the Top 25.

[PointGuard]

Jan. 30, 2024: William & Mary Tribe (7-12, 3-5) @ #19-ranked Towson Tigers (17-2, 7-1)

Connie Farnsworth, Tigers fan

I became a basketball fan after a friend took me to a couple Towson games 2 years ago. I enjoy the atmosphere and the excitement. The more games I attend, the more I understand about the game, but I’m still no expert. My favorite player for the Tigers is PG Shaun White. He’ll be graduating in a few months, so maybe I will most closely follow Jon Spann after Shaun leaves.

The Tigers scored first and never looked back. They built a 50-27 lead at the half. They didn’t seem to be shooting all that well, but they sure man-handled the Tribe for rebounds.

In the 2nd half, they merely held William & Mary at arm’s length and won with ease by a final score of 84-60. I was told after the game that the Tigers held a 34-18 advantage in points in the paint and an 18-2 advantage in 2nd chance points.

C Donny Flint scored 16 and had 12 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. SG Dominick Collins dropped in 15 points plus had 5 rebounds and 4 assists. SF Kevin Holmes scored 12 and had 5 rebounds. PG Shaun White had 11 points and C/PF Donyell Porter scored 10 and grabbed 5 rebounds.

[PointGuard]

Feb. 2, 2024: Hofstra Pride (14-6, 8-1) @ #19-ranked Towson Tigers (18-2, 8-1)

Nate Culuko, 3rd Assistant Coach (Scouting)

When comparing our players with Hofstra’s players, our guys are stronger. But the Pride play with pride and cohesiveness. Great teamwork has kept them winning. The team does just enough to win. Our average margin of difference in CAA games this season is 8 points; the Pride’s average marge of difference in their CAA games has been 5 points. For the entire season Hofstra is scoring 79.5 ppg while its opponents have averaged 76.1 ppg (compared to our 81.8 ppg and our opponents’ 69.5 ppg). They run a fast-paced offense with a lot of offensive freedom. Their primary set is a flex offense with a lot of outside attack. They primarily employ a man-to-man defense. Top scorers are C Colin Leith (16.0 ppg), PG Marco Smith (12.2 ppg), and SG Norman Cherry (10.9 ppg). Leith is their top rebounder (7.8 rpg). Cherry is averaging 4.1 apg and Smith is averaging 3.4 apg. Smith, Cherry, and Leith are extremely efficient shooters. The team as a whole is the best shooting team in the CAA, hitting a phenomenal 51.6% of their FG’s and 41.6% of their 3’s and their offensive efficiency is highest in the CAA (52.1%). They’re very good at drawing fouls. They’re less imposing defensively but they have held opponents’ 3-point shooting in check (just 32.3%). They don’t get many offensive rebounds (7.0/game) but they have a 33.4 rpg to 29.6 rpg advantage over their opponents. They turn the ball over more than anyone else in the CAA (17.2 topg). Suggest we double team Leith initially but be ready to shift to whoever has the hot hand. In our 76-69 loss to them earlier this season, we got beat inside with Hofstra scoring 36 points in the paint. The Pride hit 52.9% of their shots against us, got to the line 11 more times than us, and forced us to make 17 turnovers. Leigh and PF Matt Johnson both scored 16 points and reserve PF Jim Robinson had 10 points. We lost that game to Hofstra because they had a huge run in the 2nd half and we failed to respond to it and being to climb out of the hole we dug for ourselves until too late in the game…need to avoid that this time.

First Half:

We got off to a good start…8-0 after 3 minutes. 5 minutes later we were ahead 19-2 having held Hofstra to 1 for 9 from the field and forcing 7 turnovers. While Hofstra finally began scoring, our offense continued to pour points in. We led by as much as 24 points and settled for a 47-27 halftime advantage. We outshot the Pride 53% to 37%, held a 16-14 rebounding advantage and a 10-3 turnover advantage. SF Wayne Burrough was our high scorer with 8 points, but C Donny Flint had 7 points and 6 rebounds.

Second Half:

We cooled off offensively but maintained our lead. We revenged our previous loss to Hofstra with an 88-64 stomping of the Pride. We dominated the boards 39-28 and made just 7 turnovers compared to 17 by Hofstra. We had a 40-18 advantage in points in the paint.

C Donny Flint had 13 points and 9 rebounds, SF Wayne Burrough scored 13, SG Dominick Collins had 12 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and a block, SG Copley Dwiggins scored 11, and PG/SG Jon Spann scored 10 and had 8 assists.

The win and Hofstra’s loss put us in sole possession of 1st place in the CAA. The win also moved us up to #17 in the polls.

[PointGuard]

Feb. 6, 2024: #17-ranked Towson Tigers (19-2, 9-1) @ James Madison Dukes (12-10, 6-4)

The Towerlight (Towson University Student Newspaper)

TIGERS TAKE THEIR SHOW ON THE ROAD

Last night Towson’s basketball team travelled to Harrisonburg, Virginia to take on the James Madison Dukes. The Tigers whipped the Dukes by 15 points when then played earlier this season in SECU Arena. Towson needed to figure out a way, though, to stop James Madison’s freshman C Adam Ash, who scored 25 points in that game. Also, the Dukes SG Nick Calhoun has been scoring 16.6 ppg this season.

The Tigers held a small lead through the first 8 minutes but then ran off 7 straight points to go ahead 23-14 with 8:43 remaining. Then Towson continued to build on their lead until the very end of the first half at which point they the Tigers held a 42-23 margin. Towson held the Dukes shooting to 31% and controlled the boards 24-14. PG/SG Jon Spann poured in 13 points and SG Dominick Collins had 11 points at the half.

James Madison cut into the lead in the 2nd half and got within 12 points before the Tigers rallied to begin rebuilding their lead. But then the Dukes came on to draw within 5 at 70-65 with 2 minutes to play. Then James Madison hit a 3 with 1:20 to go. Neither team could score and as Towson tried to work the clock down, the Dukes fouled with 29 seconds remaining. Wayne Burrough made the first shot but missed the second. Donny Flint recovered the rebound and cleared the ball to Jon Spann who was fouled with 24 seconds on the clock. Spann made the first and missed the second but Donyell Porter muscled away the rebound and got it to Spann who was fouled again. With 21 seconds to go Spann hit both free throws. The Dukes hit a 3 that cut the final difference to 74-71 in favor of Towson. James Madison outshot the Tigers 44% to 37%, but Towson held a 43-32 rebounding advantage. Towson had 14 second chance points while James Madison had none.

Topping the scoring for Towson was SG Dominick Collins who scored 19 points. PG/SG Jon Spann put in 16 points. SF Wayne Burrough had 10 points and 10 rebounds. C Donny Flint pulled down 15 boards plus held the Dukes’ Adam Ash to just 7 points.

[PointGuard]

Feb. 9, 2024: #17 ranked Towson Tigers (20-2, 10-1) @ Elon Phoenix (11-11, 6-5)

Matt Barnes, 2nd Assistant Coach

Argh! A second away game this week! These are always gut-wrenching. In our previous game we beat Elon at our place, but just by 7 points. So that means we need to play better this game. Freshman SF Charles Brown is still the Phoenix’ leading scorer, averaging 12.0 ppg.

I got down to North Carolina a day early so I could check in on a recruit we’ve got on our list. Watched a game his high school team played. He scored well, but he wasn’t much of a passer…so since he’s a PG, that’s not good. Also both he and his parents are extremely interested in his playing close to home, so getting him to come to Maryland would be tough anyway. I plan on suggesting to Coach Aura that we drop him from our list, but he’s focused on the game with Elon right now, so I can bring it up tomorrow. We have one SF still on our list..the kid is pretty interested in us, but we already have 2 SF’s recruited. We don’t need another one, so we may as well drop him also.

Elon nearly ran us off the court in the first half. Our defense was nearly non-existent. The Phoenix scored 46 points while we only had 35 first half points. Even Elon’s subs were scoring with ease against us. Coach Aura really tore into the guys in the locker room. He made some adjustments on our defensive assignments as well.

The butt-chewing and defensive changes worked. Elon only scored 23 points in the 2nd half. C Donny Flint took command of the boards on both ends of the court. We quickly overtook the Phoenix and then went up by 5. But Elon scored the final 5 points of the half and regulation time ended with the scored tied at 69-69. Our starters caught fire in the OT and we scored 10 of the first 12 points. We then hung on to gain an 85-80 overtime victory.

PF Kevin Holmes and PG Shaun White each scored 13 points for us. Holmes also had 4 steals and 2 blocks. C Donny Flint hit for 11 points but more importantly he pulled down 18 rebounds and had 4 blocks and a steal. SG Dominick White scored 10.

Hofstra got beaten by 3 points in a road game against Northeastern. That means we now are 2 games ahead of them.

SF Wayne Burrough sprained his toe and his play in our next couple games will be limited.