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Jan. 19, 2022: Towson Tigers (10-6, 3-2) @ Northeastern Huskies (11-5, 4-1)

Harry Iacona, 3rd Assistant (Scouting) Coach

Going into this game we’re in a 3-way tie for 4th place, one game behind Northeastern and William & Mary and two games behind 5-0 Charleston.  This is a game I’ve worried about all year.  The Huskies are a tough team and having to go up against them on their court is a huge challenge.  They are unbeaten (8-0) at home.  Like us they have beaten Delaware, Elon and James Madison, but by slightly bigger margins that did we.  Their resume this season also includes a road win over Pac-12 Washington.  Northeastern is led by senior SF Mike Clyburn who is averaging 18.0 ppg.  PG Lee Pucket is averaging 10.1 ppg and 4.8 apg.  Clyburn has scored between 23 and 32 points in 4 of the Huskies 5 most recent contests.  We need to keep Clyburn from having yet another of those breakout games.  The Huskies’ primary offense is the triangle and they run a man-to-man defense most of the time.  Besides trying to keep Clyburn in check, I think the keys to this game are keeping our players out of foul trouble, working the ball around to get some clear shots so we have a good shooting percentage, and not letting the Huskies’ home crowd take us out of our game.

Clyburn scored the first 10 points for Northeastern but we led 13-10 with PF Deon Penn scoring 9 of our points at that point.  But the Huskies then edged ahead to finish the half ahead of by a score of 28-25. 

Coach Aura told our guys during the half to continue to play tough defense and that we’d win the game.  Our guys came out and played solid defense the entire 2nd half that kept the Huskies’ fans quiet.  Our offense improved enough for us to score a big-time 63-53 victory.  We forced Northeastern to make 21 turnovers.

PG Adrian Brown came up big in the 2nd half to finish with 19 points.  PF Deon Penn had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.  SG Billy Thomas and C Jason Miner both scored 10 points.  For Northeastern, SF Mike Clyburn was the Huskies only player to score in double figures…he finished with 18 points.

The win moved us up into a 3-way tie for 3rd place, a game behind co-leaders William & Mary and Charleston.

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Jan. 23, 2022: NC-Wilmington Seahawks (9-8, 3-3) @ Towson Tigers (11-6, 4-2)

Baltimore Sun sports section article

DEFENSE DOMINATES

Coming into last night’s game against Towson, NC-Wilmington had 4 players averaging in double figures.  This meant that Coach Aura’s Tigers would not be able to focus on controlling one primary player but try to control the entire Seahawks’ lineup.

Towson looked shaky in the first five minutes of play as NC-Wilmington built a 6 point lead, but then the Tigers’ defense clamped down on the Seahawks.  Even though Towson’s had trouble hitting their shots, the Tigers ground down the Seahawks and by the end of the first half were in front 35-27.  Towson’s guards totally outplayed their counterparts on NC-Wilmington.

In the 2nd half, Towson continued to play a lockdown defense that kept the Seahawks from mounting any sustained comeback.  PF Deon Penn scored 12 of his 15 points in the 2nd half.  Penn also pulled down 12 rebounds in the game.  Towson went on to knock off the Seahawks by a score of 72-55 to improve their CAA record to 5-2 and remain one game behind Charleston and William & Mary which also won last night. 

Towson’s top scorer was PG Adrian Brown with 17 points.  Brown also had 2 steals and 3 blocks.  Brown and Penn, others scoring in double figures for the Tigers were SF Wayne Burrough with 12 points and SG Billy Thomas with 10.

The story of the game, though, was Towson’s defense which held NC-Wilmington to hitting just 36% of their shots and forced the Seahawks to turn the ball over 20 times.  Coach Aura confirmed this when he said, “Our defense was stellar tonight.  Our guards controlled the game and didn’t allow any of the Seahawks’ guards to contribute offensively.  Their defensive pressure caused NC-Wilmington to make errors.  That was particularly important tonight when our offense didn’t get untracked, since the turnovers by the Seahawks gave us more offensive opportunities.  But in the future though, we need to hit more than 40% of our FG’s if we want to win consistently.”

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Jan. 26, 2022: William & Mary Tribe (9-9, 6-1) @ Towson Tigers (12-6, 5-2)

Dominick Collins, SG who is ineligible this season due to transferring from USC:

After winning their first game this season, the Tribe lost 6 straight pre-conference games.  In conference play they’ve done just the opposite, losing their league opener and now on a 6-game win streak and riding along in a tie with Charleston for 1st place in the conference.  We have a 5-game win streak on the line and want to keep that going so are intent on knocking off William & Mary.  We need to step up our play at home to do that, though.  Coach Fed says we need to build and maintain our momentum more at home so we keep our crowd cheering us on and making it difficult on our opponents.

SF Ross Davis will miss his 2nd straight game due to having the flu.

Coach Iacona’s scouting report says of the 3 players William & Mary has averaging in double figures, freshman SG Marino Barnes has been the hottest in his past 3 or 4 games from inside and outside the arc.  But while senior SF Eddie Mosely is averaging just 8.4 ppg, he is a deadly jump shooter from inside the arc and has scored in double figures in the Tribes last 3 games.  Since the coaches felt my game is similar to Eddie Mosely’s, they had me play as Mosely going up against our starters in practice.  The Tribes’ normal starting PG Kueth Johnson, who is averaging 11.8 ppg, is nursing an injury and may not start or play much, but walkon PG Bryan Hawkins has been shooting exceptionally well from all over the court thus far this season.  We’re going to try pressuring William & Mary defensively and playing more up-tempo offensively to throw them off-balance and wear them down.

1st half:

C Melvin Steele picks up 2 fouls in first 2 minutes.

Refs working us over…5 fouls in first 2-1/2 minutes.

Tribes’ SG Marino Barnes called for 2nd foul at 16:40 mark and C Matt Holt picks up 2nd foul at 15:46. Refs whistles are burning up.

12:58—2 fouls on PF Deon Penn.

C Jason Miner assessed 2nd foul.  This sucks!

We’ve been ahead all night but lead 22-15 with 8 minutes left in the half.

PG Adrian Brown hits jumper to put us ahead by 10 at 31-21 with 4:30 to go.

Half ends with us on top 43-27.  Adrian Brown scored 10 points.  We outrebound the Tribe 21-13 and held a 7-4 turnover advantage.

2nd half:

16:04 Deon Penn fouled, makes one of two but leaves game due to injury.

12:51 Big run puts us ahead 30 at 62-32.

6:30 We’re killing them inside. Outscoring them in the paint and dominating the boards.

End of game: Towson-84, William & Mary-51.  Wiped them out!  We move into tie with William & Mary for 2nd place, one game behind Charleston.

We outshot the Tribe 54% to 35%.  We held a 40-25 advantage on the boards.  We achieved a 38-20 advantage on points in the paint and a 10-0 advantage on 2nd chance points.  I got a pat on the back from Coach Fed since our guys were able to control the Tribe’s Eddie Mosely.

Top scorers: C Melvin Steele-17 (he also grabbed 12 rebounds), C Jason Miner-14 points (he pulled down 10 rebounds also), PG Adrian Brown-13 points.

Other CAA game: In a game between two teams with 0-7 CAA records, Delaware beat Elon to win their first game of the entire season.

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Cryin’ the Blues

1st Asst (Recruiting) Coach Omar McDade

The SAT scores were announced.  We’d been in extensive contact with 3 high school recruits who are ranked from #25 to #75 nationally.  But we’d been worried about whether any of the 3 of these high-flying recruits would achieve qualifying scores since their GPA’s were low.  We were right to worry.  None of their SAT scores were high enough to qualify to attend Towson.  So our hopes, improbable as they may have been, were dashed and we were left crying in our beer.

But we’ll go on with life and continue to pursue those on our list who have shown some level of interest and who do qualify academically.  We’ve got scholarship offers pending to two recruits, a PF and a PG.  Time for me to work harder on getting them to commit, but yet maintain enough of our recruiting budget to go after others if these guys don’t sign with us.

I sure hope we can increase our budget for next season.  This is the second consecutive year we just don’t have enough money to recruit the way we want.

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Jan. 30, 2022: Towson Tigers (13-6, 6-2) @ Charleston Cougars (13-6, 7-1)

Rob Masters, Graduate Assistant Coach

Back with you as I keep track of some things to pass along to Coach Aura after the game.  Charleston obviously was underrated before season began since they were picked to finish 8th in the CAA.  They’re running a fast-paced offense which has resulted in them being the top-scoring team in the conference thus far.

Offensive Strategy:  The Cougars’ defense has given up a lot of points.  But we haven’t played against a team this season that employs a 1-2-2 zone.  We’re going to try to beat their zone by working the ball inside as much as possible.  Hopefully Deon Penn and Melvin Steele don’t get into foul trouble so they can put a lot of points on the board for us.  Coach Iacona feels we stronger at PF and PG than the Cougars, so we’ll try to exploit that advantage.

Defensive Strategy:  If Charleston gets off to a good start, we’ll try slowing down the pace to try to frustrate them.  They’re shooting pretty well from 3-point distance, so if they get hot out there, we’ll go strictly to m-2-m to try to close off that part of their game.  SG Grant Hopkins and SF Russell Brown both are averaging over 11 ppg, but Hopkins has a higher shooting percentage, so we’ll focus on him initially and then shift if someone else gets hot.

1st Half:

Charleston’s first place standing has certainly brought out their fans.  All 5100 seats at TD Arena appear to be filled and they got the place rocking before the game tipped off.  Hope the guys don’t get intimidated.

After 5 minutes we’re ahead 9-7.  We’re not shooting all that well, but PF Deon Penn dominating the boards inside.  Our defense has forced the Cougars to make several turnovers. 

10 minutes into the half:  Charleston on top 20-18.  The lead has been shifting back and forth.  We lofting up a lot of 3 attempts, but not hitting enough of them. 

5 minutes to go in the half:  We lead 26-23.  Our defense and rebounding just not giving Charleston all that many shots.  PG Adrian Brown hit a couple 3’s in the last few minutes to put us ahead.  Coach Aura seems to be playing a much shorter bench than usual.

End of half: We pulled ahead 40-31.  Brown playing great…has 13 points and 4 assists.  Penn already has 10 rebounds.  Charleston players looked to be frustrated by our ball control and defense which limited their shots.  11 turnovers by the Cougars.  C Melvin Steele has 3 fouls and Penn has 2.

2nd Half:

5 minutes into the half: Great start.  We’re up 54-38.  Brown continues to fire away from outside and SF Wayne Burrough hitting from inside out and outside. 

Midway thru half: Our lead has increased to 66-45.  SG Billy Thomas, Burrough, and Brown came up with some big steals.  Coach Aura leaning much more heavily than usual on the starting 5 plus C Jason Miner since Steele how has 4 fouls.

5 minutes left in the game: Our shooting cooled off and Charleston made a big run to cut their deficit to 72-59.  We gave the Cougars some clear shots and they began hitting.  Steele fouled out.  4 fouls on Penn.  Brown now has 20 points. 

End of Game: We coasted through the final 10 minutes of the game which shaved our lead but we still won 83-73.  Defense was porous allowing too many easy buckets for Charleston.  They improved their shooting to 52% compared to our 42%.  But we controlled the boards 44-32 and had a 19-14 turnover advantage.  We put up 40 3PA’s (very usual)…but only hit on 12 of them (not good).  The win puts us into a tie for first place with Charleston and William & Mary.  The team is really psyched up after winning their 7th straight game but even more so for 3 of their last 4 wins being against teams that came into the game against the Tigers with just one loss apiece…two 10 point wins on the road against Northeastern and Charleston and a 33 point blowout at home over William & Mary.

Top Players: 

PG Adrian Brown-24 points, 9 assists; SF Wayne Burrough-15 points; SG Billy Thomas-13 points, 4 assists, 3 steals; PF Deon Penn-8 points, 16 rebounds (including 10 offensive rebounds), 2 blocks; C Melvin Steele-8 points, 9 rebounds, 3 steals.

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Feb. 2, 2022: Towson Tigers (14-6, 7-2) @ Drexel Dragons (9-11, 5-4)

SF Wayne Burrough

Five reasons we really want to win this game: (1) Stay in 1st place; (2) Extend win streak; (3) Get revenge for 72-65 loss to Drexel earlier this season; (4) It’s Coach Aura’s birthday; and (5) We always want to win.

Refs called 2 fouls on me in first 5 minutes after we fell behind 10-5.  But we scored the next 7 points to go ahead.  Lead changed between teams then for several minutes.  But led by the scoring of PF Deon Penn, we took control in last 8 minutes of the half.  At the break we led 33-26.  Deon had 14 points and 5 rebounds.  Coach Aura had us switch to a fast-paced offense for the 2nd half to throw off the slow-pace Dragons.

In the second half, we came out with fire in our eyes.  Our quick pace took Drexel by surprise and we opened an 18 point lead.  The Dragons were unable to handle Deon Penn.  We finished with an 80-67 easy win. 

PF Deon Penn scored 30 points (knocking down 11 of 13 FGA’s and 3 of 3 from beyond the arc) and had 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks.  PG Adrian Brown scored 12 while dishing out 5 assists.  C Melvin Steele had 8 points and 11 rebounds.  C Jason Miner hit for 9 points while grabbing 5 boards.  I finished with 8 points and 6 rebounds. 

Charleston beat William & Mary to stay tied with us for 1st place and knock the Tribe into 3rd place.

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Good News!

Coach Frederick Aura

Good news on two fronts!

First, PF Deon Penn was named the Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Week.  Deon had two great games, scoring 38 points, hauling down 24 rebounds, and gettig 3 assists, 3 steals, and 4 blocks.  Deon has played well all season and is now averaging 14.6 ppg and 7.3 rpg.

Second, PG Shaun White, JC player from Clinton, Massachusetts accepted our scholarship offer.  Shaun is a very good scorer with a sweet outside shot, is a very good free throw shooter, a real ball hawk, an excellent passer, and an adroit ball handler.  He’s very athletic and a hard worker who is the 133rd highest ranked recruit in the nation.  Shaun and Matt Faust, who we signed earlier, will resolve our PG needs for the coming couple seasons. 

We are still awaiting word from the final recruit to whom we’ve offered a scholarship.

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Feb. 6, 2022: Hofstra Pride (7-14, 3-7) @ Towson Tigers (15-6, 8-2)

Rob Stevenson, team athletic trainer

The team goes into this game at full strength  with no injuries.

We jumped out to a 7-0 lead.  A rock-solid defense made it possible for us to hold a 17-6 lead with 10 minutes left in the half.  We kept the pressure on and Hofstra only hit 28% of their first half shots.  We also held a 23-15 rebounding advantage.  The result was a halftime lead of 37-22.  SF Wayne Burrough scored 12 points while PF Deon Penn had 10 points and 9 rebounds.

Our lead ballooned to 20 points after 4 minutes of play in the 2nd half.  Our defense continued to hold Hofstra at bay.  We led by as much as 26 points before settling for a 67-49 stomping of the Pride.  We dominated the boards 42-30.  The team remains tied with Charleston for the conference lead.

Leading our scoring was SF Wayne Burrough with 21 points.  PF Deon Penn had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Good news: No injuries during the game other than a contusion on Billy Thomas' thigh.  But while there may be a little soreness, the bruised area will heal quickly.  With a relatively easy win there normally is less pain, strain and lame. 

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Feb. 9, 2022: Towson Tigers (16-6, 9-2) @ Delaware FIghtin’ Blue Hens (2-20, 2-9)

Baltimore Sun

Towson’s Win Streak Broken

Towson’s basketball team travelled to take on the lowly Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens last night.  The Tigers defense failed to stop Delaware in the first half.  The Fightin’ Blue Hens hit 55% of their shots and held a small lead throughout most of the half.  Ten turnovers by Towson set the table for Delaware as they converted five of those into driving full court layups.  Fortunately PG Mateen Carroll came in off the bench to pour in 12 points for the Tigers to keep the score close.  The half ended with Towson trailing 42-40.

The second half was like a replay of the first half.  Delaware again maintained a small lead most of the half.  Towson’s edged ahead occasionally only to lose the lead quickly.  Late in the second half Delaware took a nine point lead, but Towson fought back. With 12 seconds remaining Adrian Brown knocked down a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 74-73.  Towson immediately fouled so they could get the ball back.  Delaware sunk both free throws.  The Tigers Mateen Carroll had an uncontested 3 point shot but it went off the rim and Towson went down to defeat 76-73.

Towson held a 34-31 rebounding advantage and had 3 less turnovers than Delaware, but the Tigers were outshot 51% to 41% and got to the free throw line 14 fewer times where they made 8 fewer points.  All five starters for the Fightin’ Blue Hens scored in double figures, led by PF Darnell Bryson’s 19 points.  For Towson, PG Mateen Carroll and SG Billy Thomas both scored 18 points with PF Deon Penn adding 12 points and SF Wayne Burrough hitting for 10 points.

The loss broke Towson’s 9 game win streak and dropped the Tigers into 2nd place in the Colonial Athletic Association, a game behind Charleston.  “We had our chances in this game, but just weren’t able to take control.  We just didn’t get it done defensively, tonight,” said Coach Frederick Aura. “It’s a game we should have won, but Delaware played well and gamely held us off each time we tried to gain an advantage.”

Two players sustained injuries in the game.  PF Jason Vickers suffered a contusion to his knee and SG Ryan Taylor injured his wrist.  Aura said he doesn’t expect either player to miss the Tigers next game against Elon but that it’s likely it will take about a week for either player to be at full strength.

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PG Adrian Brown

The 3 losses we’ve had in conference play have come at the hands of the teams in 7th, 8th, and 9th place.  That’s disgracing.  I’m pretty sure Coach Fed feels that way also.  He worked our asses off in practice.  So even though he hasn’t said anything about those 3 losses, it’s pretty darned obvious he’s pissed at us for letting down when we are playing less talented teams.

I checked my stats and found to my dismay that I only scored a TOTAL of 9 points (and had just 2 steals and no blocks) in those 3 games!  When I think back on it, it doesn’t seem like I didn’t get up for those games, but maybe I didn’t.  Lesson learned!

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Feb. 13, 2022: Elon Phoenix (4-19, 1-11) @ Towson Tigers (16-7, 9-3)

SG Ryan Taylor

It took us 11-1/2 minutes before we finally got a lead in this game.  Then in the final 6 minutes of the first half, we dominated the Phoenix and scored 24 of the final 27 points in the half.  That gave us a commanding 45-24 halftime advantage.  Our defense forced Elon to make 14 turnovers.  SF Wayne Burrough poured in 13 points to lead us offensively.

We coasted through the entire 2nd half and even though our offense died, we won convincingly 72-55.

SF Wayne Burrough put in 19 points and PG Adrian Brown added 13 points.  C Melvin Steele nearly had a double-double with 9 points and 9 rebounds.  I played OK, scoring 8 points.

Charleston won so we’re still alone in 2nd place, one game behind the Cougars.

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Feb. 16, 2022: Towson Tigers (17-7, 10-3) @ James Madison Dukes (11-13, 8-5)

2nd Assistant Coach Michael Snoddy

The Dukes are 9-0 at home.  We barely beat them on our own court, but only by a score of 82-78.  They’ve won 5 of their last 6 games.  So beating them tonight on their home court is a tall order, even though I believe overall we’re the better team.  We need to try to control both SF Chris Archey (14.2 ppg) and C Felipe McMillian (11.6 ppg).  If one of them has a substandard game, the other seems to pick up the slack.  It’s important that Deon Penn and Melvin Steele don’t get into early foul trouble as both have in a number of our games thus far.

We missed our first 7 FG’s and fell behind 10-2 after 4 minutes of play.  We trailed by double figures through most of the half and by as much as 16 points.  But in the final 8 minutes of the half we began eating into lead and got within 6 points.  But we then gave it all back in the final couple minutes to trail 46-31 at the break.  James Madison outshot us 49% to 35% and the Dukes hit 8 of 13 three’s.  PF Rowan Besecker and SF Chris Archey scored 13 and 11 points respectively for James Madison.  We didn’t have anyone who scored ore than 6 points.

We dropped behind by 17 points 2 minutes into the 2nd half.  We then went on a 9-0 run.  A few minutes later we got with 5 points only to see the Dukes quickly pull back ahead 68-52 with 10 minutes left in the game.  Coach Fed chewed the guys out during a TO.  We made a couple mini runs from there on but never seriously contended and ended up losing 92-80.

We let the Dukes hit 51% of the FG’s and 55% of their 3’s.  PF Rowan Besecker scorched the nets for 24 points for James Madison.  For us, PF Deon Penn had 14 points, SF Ross Davis hit for 13, and SG Billy Thomas added 12.

We’re now 2 games behind league-leading Charleston and a game in front of James Madison and Northeastern that are tied for 3rd place.

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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. 

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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COLONIAL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION STANDINGS, 2021-2022 SEASON

Perry Winkle, Towson's Athletic Director[/b]

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.

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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.”

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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:

#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

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Awards

Perry Winkle

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 was played even better than we anticipated.

Edited by PointGuard

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Interview of Towson’s graduating seniors

Scotter Ward [W] of WBAL Sports Radio


(Group response [G])

[W]: We fortunately have with us today the five graduating seniors from the Towson Tigers basketball team. They are: Melvin Steele, Mateen Carroll, Adrian Brown, Billy Thomas, and Matt Heard.  

First guys, congratulations on a very successful season and making it to March Madness.

[G]: (muffled mix of voices) Thanks. Good being with ya.

[W]  Did you expect to make it to the NCAA Tournament and what was it like?

[T] I think we all thought we at least had a chance, but it was great to make it through the CAA Tourney with 3 straight wins.

[C] Playing in the NCAA Tournament was fantastic.  Huge crowd.  Media all over the place.  Coach kept telling us to put all that aside and just play our game.  

Unfortunately

Edited by PointGuard

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18 minutes ago, PointGuard said:

Interview of Towson’s graduating seniors

Scotter Ward of WBAL Sports Radio


(Scott Ward [W], Melvin Steele [S ], Mateen Carroll [C], Adrian Brown [B ] , Billy Thomas [T], Matt Heard [H], Group response [G])

[W]: We fortunately have with us today the five graduating seniors from the Towson Tigers basketball team. They are: Melvin Steele, Mateen Carroll, Adrian Brown, Billy Thomas, and Matt Heard.  

First guys, congratulations on a very successful season and making it to March Madness.

[G]: (muffled mix of voices) Thanks. Good being with ya.

[W]  Did you expect to make it to the NCAA Tournament and what was it like?

[T] I think we all thought we at least had a chance, but it was great to make it through the CAA Tourney with 3 straight wins.

[C] Playing in the NCAA Tournament was fantastic.  Huge crowd.  Media all over the place.  Coach kept telling us to put all that aside and just play our game.  

[S ] Unfortunately we dug ourselves into a hole in the first half, but the second half we played Utah State pretty evenly, maybe even outplayed them a bit.  But sure would have liked to get to the next round.

[W] Adrian, how’s your back doing?

[B ] Still kind of sore, but I think it’s improving.

[W] Was it tough not being able to play in the CAA championship game and then the Big Dance?

[B ] Darned right it was.  I woulda given anything to be out on the floor with these guys.

[W] Coach Aura got everyone else into the game, right?

[H]  He sure did, even me.  That meant a lot to me.

[C] We were all happy to see Matt and Alex (Haywood] score.  Everyone got to contribute.

[W] What’s it like playing for Coach Aura?

[S ] It’s been terrific.  Coach Fed has made such a difference in our program from what it was before he came and when I played here as a freshman.  He’s gotten everyone to accept the “team” concept.  He’s been upfront with us all along telling us there won’t be pro scouts checking us out, so individual stats are meaningless without team success.

[B ]  Yeah, if you’re good in high school and at a JC (like where I played before coming to Towson), everyone knows that to get a college scholarship your individual stats need to stand out.  But Coach Fed has told us all that your stats don’t put points on the board.  Rather it’s how you’re playing at each and every moment of the game that’s important.  And having the most ppg or rpg pales compared to how much you’re helping your team to win each minute you’re on the court.

[T] Melvin’s a good example of that.  His screens, his blocking out defenders, his outlet passes to guys that are open might have resulted in him scoring less or not getting a rebound here or there, but made it possible for others to rebound or get off shots they otherwise couldn’t have or would have been less likely to knock down.

[H] Since I’ve had a front row seat from the bench for all 4 years I was on the team as a walk-on, I can tell you that the team has become much more cohesive each and every season under Coach Fed.  Even though I don’t get into all that many games, Coach Fed plays a deep bench so everyone feels like part of the team and as walkons, Alex and I have been able to contribute in games as well as during practice.

[W] We’re running out of time here, but thanks for being on my show and for playing so well for the Tigers.

[C] Sure. I just wish I had another year with the team, because it looks to me like next season the Tigers  will be even better.

 

Edited by PointGuard

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Coach Frederick Aura

Several colleges contacted me about head coaching jobs.  While they were upgrades (as far as prestige of programs goes), I feel like there is more for me to accomplish here at Towson so I’m not leaving.

Omar McDade, my first assistant coach, retired.  Michael Snoddy, my 2nd assistant coach, wanted to be promoted and requested too much of an increase for us to afford so he will look for a coaching job elsewhere.  I also decided not to extend the contract of 3rd assistant Harry Iacona.  That meant I needed to hire an entirely new set of assistant coaches.  Our budget constraints made that exceedingly difficult.

Surprisingly though the hiring of new 1st and 3rd assistant coaches went quickly.  But hiring of a 2nd assistant was a lengthy process.  I ended up making offers to 4 different coaches, but they weren’t interested in the salary we offered.  I finally went back to my first choice and edged my offer up a couple times and finally landed him.  My new assistants aren’t necessarily strong across the spectrum of functions, but each is good at the particular area for which they will be responsible.

My new assistants are:

·         1st Assistant Coach (player development):  Kenyon Haynes, age 65. 3 yr contract, was a JC head coach previously

·         2nd Assistant Coach (recruiting):  Matt Barnes, age 51, 5 yr contract, was 2nd assistant at Milwaukee previously

·         3rd Assistant Coach (scouting):  Nate Coluko, age 53, 4 yr contract, was 2nd assistant at Maine previously

·         Graduate Assistant Coach: Adrian Brown…our starting PG from the two seasons he was with us.

After that I spoke with Perry Winkle and requested a budget increase.  The board came back with an approval for a $7,750 increase. 

Want to know what happened to my ex-assistants?

·         Omar McDade did retire.  He’s travelling around the world.  His wife said that he’s no longer tied down to a basketball court that they need to make up for their inability to travel in the past.  Today he’s on a cruise through the Norwegian fjords.

·         Michael Snoddy is now the 2nd assistant coach at St. Francis (PA).

·         Harry Iacona is the new 3rd assistant coach for Washington State.

We failed to fill our 4th scholarship this season so either will pick up a transfer player or have one additional scholarship to offer next year.  I think that not being able to fill all the scholarships the past 2 years is partly why Omar McDade decided it was time to retire.  But it wasn’t his fault.  The principal reason for not being able to land a final recruit was our bare-bones recruiting budget.  Hopefully the budget increase we received for next year will help us avoid these kind of problems in the future.

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