Towson men’s basketball defeated William & Mary, 88-73, on Feb. 27 to clinch the first outright CAA regular-season championship in program history in front of a record crowd at TU Arena, complete with a near-perfect second half that showcased the Tigers at their best.
Towson was behind, 44-32, at halftime and fell behind by 15 early in the second half thanks to a 3-pointer by Tribe forward Keller Boothby, which made William & Mary 10 of 15 from deep at the time. Then the Tigers took over, ending the game on a 56-29 run. Towson shot 17 of 26 from the field and 9 of 14 from 3-point range in the second half and held the Tribe scoreless for nearly eight straight minutes at one point.
The crowd of 4,750 became more and more boisterous as fans sensed a championship. Threes from senior forward Tomiwa Sulaiman, junior wing Christian May, redshirt sophomore guard Dylan Williamson and sophomore wing Tyler Tejada got the Tiger faithful roaring in particular.
The victory clinched the first outright regular-season title for the program since 1993-94, when it won the Big South.
“I’ve been fortunate to be here for a while. It’s just a great day to be a Towson Tiger,” head coach Pat Skerry said. “We stood up tonight — the crowd, the students, the players, the atmosphere. Just incredible, incredible pride in our university and our athletic department and our kids for the way they responded tonight.”
Towson now sits at 20-10 overall and 15-2 in the CAA and will be the No. 1 seed in the league tournament that takes place at CareFirst Arena in D.C. from March 7-11. The atmosphere against William & Mary felt like an appropriate celebration for a team that entered the year as the preseason CAA favorites and lived up to the billing.
Sulaiman loved playing in front of the energetic crowd.
“It’s good that people are recognizing the work we put in,” Sulaiman said. “They still don’t know half the work that goes on behind the scenes, but just to have that support and have the fans come out just means the world. Being from England, I’ve always dreamed of the American experience, especially when it comes to basketball. The band, the fans, the crowd, the student section, all of that, it just means so much to be able to be in a position to have this around.”
Towson is a throwback in today’s era of immediate transfer eligibility and NIL, having brought back 11 players overall and all but one major contributor from last year’s team. The program has not earned an invitation to the NCAA Tournament since 1991, and players returned to the Tigers with the intention of ending that drought.
Towson was agonizingly close to having an opportunity to play for a CAA title a year ago. The Tigers had a 55-48 lead against top-seeded Charleston at the final media timeout in the semifinals before scoring one point to close out a 61-56 loss. Now, the same group has another chance to finish the job.
“We came back because we were close to winning a championship last year,” Sulaiman said. “We just knew we had all the pieces. We just needed to tweak some stuff, move some people here and there and we got it done. These guys were the main reason I came back. I see the work they put in behind the scenes. I see the dogs that they have in them. I see the way they’re fighting on the court. These guys are my brothers. It’s deeper than basketball. … They’re going to be at my wedding in God knows how many years. We’re still going to be in contact. These guys are my brothers for life.”
However, it wasn’t always an easy road to get back to this point. Towson finished its nonconference slate at 5-8, losing six straight at one point. The Tigers struggled to find their footing with Tejada (ankle) and May (concussion) both missing time. They hit their nadir at Robert Morris on Dec. 17, when they were outscored 44-27 in the second half en route to a one-point loss.
But once Tejada and May got healthy, the team got rolling. Towson also found a knack for making the big plays in crunch time, winning two overtime games and five regulation games by six points or fewer.
“You don’t get to win a championship every year. Guys work hard every day, and so do all the other teams you compete against,” Skerry said. “To think where we were Dec. 17 and the train was off the tracks, just how they’ve stuck together and worked and put in extra time, it’s good to see them rewarded.”
Towson’s first game in the CAA tournament will come in the quarterfinals on March 9 at noon. A potential semifinal game will take place on March 10 at 6 p.m., and the championship game will be played on March 11 at 7 p.m. That means the Tigers will need to win three games in three days to go dancing.
That’s where Towson’s attention will turn following its regular-season finale against Hampton on March 1.
“Job’s not finished,” Williamson said.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Towson Athletics