CofC Come Up Short, Fall 80-77 To Towson

Cougars Surrender 11 Pt Lead Twice in Last Second Loss

By: Jeff Walker, Sportswriter

It was a classic battle of the big cats as the College of Charleston Cougars hosted the Towson Tigers Saturday afternoon in CAA action at TD Arena. Over 5000 fans filled the arena in what was Charleston’s last regular season home game, before closing the remainder of the year with four road games.

The Cougars held a seven-point lead at the half, extended it to 11 early and late in the second period, only to have one of the top two teams in the league slowly chip away both times before tying the contest at 72 all with just over three minutes left to play. The Tigers would go on to win 80-77, giving the Cougars their second straight loss at home, falling to 14-12 overall and 6-8 in the CAA.

Although overall shooting percentages favored Charleston their opponents took 68 shots from the floor to just 47 for the home team. The Tigers outrebounded the Cougars as well, especially strong on the offensive glass, hauling in an impressive 21 rebounds.

CofC head coach Pat Kelsey expected a hard fight throughout, giving Towson their due. “They are a really good team, and tough to prepare for.” He added, “They got 21 offensive rebounds. To beat those guys, you can’t let that happen.”

For the second game in a row Dimitrius Underwood led the Cougars in scoring, finishing 8 of 12 from the floor, adding 5 of 6 from the line for a game best 21 points. He grabbed a game best 11 best rebounds as well. Nick Farrar continues to impress, adding much need spark off the bench. He went 3 of 5 from long range for 13 points. Ben Burnham made 4 of 5 for 12 points, with Brenden Tucker chipping in 12 points.

CofC fell behind early, down 11-2 after three minutes elapsed. Seven unanswered by Charleston would make it 11-9 at the 13:35 mark. Towson would extend their margin to eight before a long ball by Tucker made it 22-17 in favor of the visitors. That helped spark a 27-12 run that found the Cougars up 41-34 heading into the locker room.

When Burnham hit from long range and Reyne Smith added a bucket from the foul line the Cougars enjoyed their first 11-point lead with 17 minutes still to play. When Tucker connected from beyond the arc the Cougars went up again by 11 with 12 showing on the clock.

But it was a steady decline, as the Tigers forced the Cougars to turn the ball over 12 times (19 overall) in the second half. When Charles Lampten made one of two from the foul line for CofC it was tied at 75 with 1:44 on the clock. However, turnovers combined with missed shots and a few failed attempts at the foul line kept Charleston from keeping pace or taking the lead.

A missed jumper by Smith from the corner with two seconds left led to a foul where Nicolas Timberlake made the first which was enough to dampen the spirits of Cougar fans. His second attempt bounced off the rim allowing for a missed full court attempt by the Cougars as time expired. With the win Towson improve to 21-7 overall and a commanding 12-3 mark in the league.

Towson was led by Timberlake who finished with a team best 19 points. Charles Thompson added 17 points for the Tigers, with Terry Nolan Jr. and Cameron Holden adding 14 and 10 points respectively for the visiting team. At 12-3 in the league, Towson are one of the favorites heading into the CAA tournament in early March.

No doubt the Cougars missed the potential scoring and court presence of grad-transfer John Meeks on Saturday who is sidelined due to a knee injury he aggravated in CofC’s loss to James Madison on Thursday night. Coach Kelsey says his return is being assessed day to day, but adds Meeks is eager to get back in the action.

The Cougars will need all the help they can get as they close out the regular season with four straight on the road which include two make up games. Charleston has 4-games-in-8-days on their road trip beginning Tuesday night at Northeastern. Tip-off in Boston is set for 7 p.m. ET on FloSports.

They follow that contest with games at Delaware, Drexel, and Hofstra on Monday Feb 28th. Coach Kelsy has said all along it’s a different schedule, much like the pros. “It’s got an NBA feel, playing so many games in such a short period of time.”

Share on Facebook

Tweet

Follow us