MBB comes back to beat Charleston on the road 80-77

[mat1992 2,233]

https://towsontigers.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats/2021-22/charleston/boxscore/22060

Nicolas Timberlake scored 19 points including hitting several free throws in the final seconds as Towson came back from an 11-point second-half deficit to edge Charleston 80-77 on the road in front of 5,060 at TD Arena. Charleston had a 7-point halftime lead and that grew to 11 as the Tigers were in constant foul trouble. Jason Gibson picked up his third foul late in the half and his fourth early in the second half. Terry Nolan played well in his place and finished with 14 points, three assists and three steals in just 20 minutes before fouling out. Charles Thompson also fouled out with 17 points, six rebounds and two blocks.

With the game tied at 75 with 58 seconds left, senior guard Antonio Rizzuto hit a tough jumper in the paint and was fouled. He made the foul shot and the Tigers never trailed again, holding on with just enough free throws and a last-second stop to get the victory. Towson has a share for first place with UNCW, who takes on JMU at 7pm at 21-7 overall and 12-3 in the CAA.

The Tigers shot just 39.7% from the field and 30% (7-26) from beyond the arc and just 19-of-32 (59%) from the line. Cam Holden had a rough day offensively, shooting just 4-of-15 (0-2 3pt) and 2 for 5 from the line with four turnovers. But had 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals. Towson had 14 turnovers, but forced 19 with 11 steals. That was the key to the comeback with Nolan and Holden getting seven combined steals. Towson was also fortunate to win the game considering the Cougars' top scorer John Meeks was out with a knee injury, but Charleston still shot 51% from the field and 39% (9-23) from beyond the arc. Dimitrius Underwood stepped up big with 21 points and six assists, but passed off a potential game-tying shot to hit Reyne Smith for the 3, who missed badly from the corner.

Here is PS after the game:

"I just appreciate our kids and our staff. I don't know how we won that game. I couldn't push the right buttons. Couldn't make a FT, a 3, couldn't stop them. Major foul trouble. Great environment. Team that couldn't make shots. Made a bunch of them,

  
"We just hung in there. We didn't win with coaching. Apologized to the players and staff at the half. How big was Nic? Terry was good? Charlie. Chase Paar did a really good job. A lot of guys in foul trouble. Credit to the kids and the staff. It was not the coaching or game-planning. These guys just found a way. Cam is terrific. This environment is worth a lot of points. Raucous crowd. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good."

 

 

[mat1992 2,233]

So I'm going to start with the positives before everyone talks about how poorly we played. And yes, we did on both ends. But this team has heart. I was questioning the mental toughness a bit because of the missed free throws and we had some very shaky plays in the first half I'll get to. But they were playing against a sold-out crowd that was on top of you and a great crowd. And some of the wackiest calls you'll ever see. I almost think Jamie Lucky's crew felt bad for Pat Skerry's team with Jason Gibson picking up three quick ones that they gave the Cougars three quick fouls and took their big Smart out of the game. Holden did play a hell of a defensive game on the press. The press got us back in the game. We don't use it as much as we did earlier in the season because we don't really need it. We play solid D and get big leads and so why press? But when you get behind against a team with no real point guard (NE as well), you have to force turnovers. You also have to make shots and that Antonio Rizzuto three-point play with 58 seconds left. Huge shot for him. Biggest shot of the year. That saved our ass. Also Cam willing us to win despite his issues. 

Ok, so we're now in first place with UNCW, waiting on that result at 7pm. Of course, with Hofstra getting even luckier that win over Northeastern, that made this more important. Of course, nobody wants to wind up in third place. Second place would be fine if we don't beat Delaware at the end of the season as long as we take care of things against JMU, but that's not a given. Their crowd will be amped in that game. It will be like their Super Bowl. So still not out of the water yet and Hofstra showed they have some more defensive issues. Nobody is perfect in this league.

Now to the problems. I worry about Cam's shooting issues. I don't want to go back to all the conference games, but I guess I have to. He really should abstain from shooting 3s since he's made 7 of 33 from beyond the arc since he had his jaw fractured at Navy. He's also 21 of his last 38 from the line. Between the free throw problems, several missed layups and the 14 turnovers, it's hard to believe we won this game. Then you have the officiating. I talked about Teddy TV in the last game, but that's what you get with him with national TV. But Jamie Lucky and these guys had a tough job because Charleston flopped literally every time Charles Thompson got the ball in the lane. They had just one technical foul called and easily could have had a few more late in the game, but I get that they weren't going to call those. That's not defense. It's one thing if Timberlake lowers his shoulder and runs a guy over or if Nolan tries to dunk over a guy from 10 feet out and has no chance. Bad decisions there and definitely charges. But when CT makes a spin move in the post and gets called for a charge when not lowering his shoulder and the smaller defender just flops. How do you win when he's become the main guy offensively?

Fortunately, Timberlake hit enough shots to score 19 points, because Gibson had just five points on 1-for-5 shooting from the field and 1-for-5 overall. Nolan was terrific before he fouled out in just 20 minutes. 

So on to watching UNCW try and come back from another first-half deficit. Back home to face JMU on Wednesday.

[mat1992 2,233]

 

[etiger 77]

Tigers find a way to win...Refs wanted CofC to win, big crowd wanted a win, CAA Leadership wanted a CofC win...Sent them all home with a big L. Just keep grinding them out tigers

[mat1992 2,233]

UNCW up 39-37 at the half over JMU. They were down pretty big. Must be nice to get full houses on a Saturday night.

[mat1992 2,233]

Just watched the Rizzuto spin move again. If they called that charge on him, I would have said let's move to C-USA, who would take anybody right now. Thankfully, they didn't go for every flop. But seriously, that's the whole thing about this floppy thing. Those are great offensive moves that are being denied by this crap. If I guys out of control and you step and draw the charge, that was the intent of it. Not falling down because you have no chance to guard a guy.

[TuTigers2012 1,062]

27 minutes ago, etiger said:

Tigers find a way to win...Refs wanted CofC to win, big crowd wanted a win, CAA Leadership wanted a CofC win...Sent them all home with a big L. Just keep grinding them out tigers

Dc will be tough.  The last two games have been jokes by the stripes. 
 

ugly game but to win it even against a team w it out it’s best player shows something. Not impressed by the game but proud of the fight late

[mat1992 2,233]

8 minutes ago, TuTigers2012 said:

Dc will be tough.  The last two games have been jokes by the stripes. 
 

ugly game but to win it even against a team w it out it’s best player shows something. Not impressed by the game but proud of the fight late

Hofstra fans might be saying the same thing. And UNCW fans if they come back and win this thing against JMU. Find a way and move on. Difference is that we're on the road in a raucous atmosphere. Try and learn from the mistakes. The letdown was a concern, but I don't think this was the cause because we were off to a decent start before fouls started piling up. Hope the refs in D.C. let them play and understand the difference between drawing a charge and flopping. Not easy, but it is their job.

[mat1992 2,233]

Oh no, the JMU game is out of control. A JMU player threw a punch looks like. We might get a break with a suspension.

[mat1992 2,233]

Okauru threw a shove. Then Wooden may have thrown a punch against Phillips.