The Towson men’s basketball program recently announced that senior point guard Jason Gibson, who has been out since November with a back injury, will not return this season. But throughout the past several weeks, the Tigers have developed a number of ways to make up for the loss of Gibson.
For one, do-it-all wing Cam Holden has been one of the CAA’s top playmakers in a point-forward role for Towson (17-8 overall, 9-3 CAA). The 6-foot-5, 200-pound redshirt senior is averaging 14.2 points, 7.0 rebounds and a league-high 4.8 assists per game entering play on Feb. 11. His 105 assists are fourth in the conference.
Holden has been especially productive of late, averaging 15.6 points, 9.8 rebounds and 5.8 assists in the Tigers’ past five contests. He put together the second triple-double in program history (24 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists) in a win against William & Mary on Jan. 28.
Towson runs much of its half-court offense through Holden, who has a knack for controlling the pace of the play when the ball is in his hands. The Tigers are 338th in the country in adjusted tempo, per KenPom, a college hoops analytics site, and that works for Holden, who can set up baskets from the perimeter, from the post or as a driver.
Holden credits Gibson for helping him during timeouts.
“He kind of gives me tips of what he sees,” Holden said following Towson’s 86-72 win against Hampton on Feb. 8. “He’s a great passer, so I try to get tips from him. I’m kind of one through four, so whatever we need at the time, that’s what I’ll be. If I need to be a point guard, I’ll be a point guard. If I need to be a back-to-the-basket guy, I’ll be a back-to-the-basket guy. Whatever the team needs, I feel like that’s kind of where I stick out at.”
Senior big man Charles Thompson, who is averaging 12.3 points per game on 55.2 percent shooting, is often the beneficiary of Holden’s playmaking. Take, for example, this thunderous dunk against Hampton:
Even without the sharpshooting Gibson in the lineup, Towson has enough shooting to make it difficult to provide help on Thompson. Guards Ryan Conway (44.4 percent from 3-point range) and Nicolas Timberlake (39.8 percent) are two of the best shooters in the CAA.
“I feel like when I can get a guy on my back … I can make a play at the rim or get all of us open at the time,” Holden said. “So I feel like when I come of a ball screen and [Timberlake is] in a corner, which no one’s going to help off of, it’s just me and Charles playing ping-pong at the rim at that point.”
Holden leads the CAA in turnovers with 76 and is averaging 3.5 per game, but he has improved in that regard of late as well. He has not committed more than three turnovers in a game since Jan. 16.
“He’s done a much better job taking care of the ball,” Tigers head coach Pat Skerry said. “I think the last few weeks his habits have been very good at practice with extra shooting, and it’s starting to pay off in his performance.”
Conway and second-year man Rahdir Hicks have shared the point guard position for most of the season, splitting the duties almost evenly (17.8 minutes per game for Conway and 20.1 for Hicks). Holden, Timberlake and Skerry all complimented Hicks after the Hampton game, saying that his ball security and defensive prowess impacted the contest in a meaningful way.
Skerry was upset with Towson’s live-ball turnovers earlier this season when the team was in the midst of a five-game losing streak, but Hicks has helped get the Tigers headed in the right direction on that front. The 6-foot, 180-pound guard has just six turnovers in his past nine outings.
Skerry played Hicks for nearly 16 second-half minutes during the Hampton game.
“He’s never going to be a flashy guy, but he really takes care of the ball,” Skerry said. “He plays great defense. And I think for our team, it takes a little stress off of Cam having to handle the ball a lot more.”
TIGERS NOTEBOOK
SEASON-ENDING INJURY FOR GIBSON: Senior point guard Jason Gibson’s back injury, which cropped up when he was warming up for Towson’s Nov. 17 game at UNC Greensboro, will keep him out the rest of the season.
Head coach Pat Skerry was initially optimistic that the injury was a short-term issue, but it lingered for weeks. Gibson had back surgery following the 2020-21 season, but Skerry said he didn’t know whether he’d need another procedure done.
“He tried everything,” Skerry said. “He’s a competitive guy. He’s a tough kid. He tried everything — doctors, injections. We burned sage. We’ve tried everything. It’s unfortunate for him because he’s such a good player and a great kid and a really good ambassador for our program.”
BIG GAMES FOR TIMBERLAKE: Graduate guard Nicolas Timberlake has two 30-plus-point games in as many contests, the first such efforts of his career. He scored 32 points at Hofstra on Feb. 2 and 31 against Hampton on Feb. 8. He combined to shoot 13-for-21 from 3-point range during those games.
“If I see one, I think I’m hot every single time,” Timberlake said following the Hampton game.
Skerry praised Timberlake’s preparation and said the game has slowed down for his star.
“When you can knock back 30 a night in conference this time of year, you have a chance to make some money playing this game,” Skerry said.
FINAL STRETCH LOOMS: Towson currently sits at 9-3 in the CAA. That’s good for third place in the league behind the College of Charleston and Hofstra, both of which are 11-2. The Tigers have six regular-season games remaining before the CAA Tournament, which takes place in D.C. from March 3-7. The winner will receive the CAA’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
“This is a fun time of year to be playing meaningful games. They’re all meaningful now,” Skerry said. “Right now, we’re a game out of first. How can we get better? We’re going to have a tough game Saturday [at Drexel]. That’s really what we’re focused on.”
Photo Credits: Colin Murphy/PressBox