TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University men's basketball team welcomed the Hampton Pirates to TU Arena on Saturday afternoon. The Tigers (21-10, 16-2 CAA) defeated the Pirates (16-15, 8-10 CAA) 75-72 to close out the CAA regular season.
Nendah Tarkeled all Tigers with 20 points on 7-of-9 (77.8%) shooting while adding three rebounds. Dylan Williamson had 13 points on 50% shooting while adding five assists. Tyler Tejada finished with 15 points and three rebounds.
Key Stats vs Hampton:
The Tigers shot 52.9% from the field and 47.1% from behind the arc.
Towson had 36 points off the bench while Hampton had six points off the bench.
The Tigers held the Pirates to 36.8% from behind the arc.
How It Happened vs Hampton:
Towson jumped out to a 6-3 lead to start the game, getting a pair of baskets from Rahdir Hicks.
The teams went back-and-forth trading baskets, then the Tigers went on an 14-5 run led by Tyler Tejada's 11 points to lead by six with 6:48 left in the first half
The Pirates responded by scoring 12 of the next 15 points to have a 32-29 edge.
Towson closed out the first half with a 10-4 run capped off by a Caleb Embeya layup to lead 39-36 at the break.
The Tigers opened the second half by extending their lead to five, but Hampton went on a 14-3 run to lead 55-49 with 12:34 remaining.
The teams exchanged a few baskets, before Towson regained the lead by scoring ten of the next 12 points to lead by two with under five minutes.
The teams continued to go back-and-forth trading the lead three times, before Nendah Tarke made a floater to give the Tigers a one-point lead with 59 seconds left.
The Pirates missed the go-ahead jumper, then Dylan Williamson drained a three-pointer with 12 seconds left to lead by four.
Hampton cut the deficit to one after a Noah Farrakhan three-pointer, but Tomiwa Sulaiman sealed a 75-72 victory with a pair of late free throws.
Inside the Numbers vs Hampton:
This is the first time that Towson has finished with a 16-2 record in the CAA.
Dylan Williamson has finished with five or more assists in the last four games.
Today's attendance of 4,705 ranks second all-time at TU Arena.
Next Game: The Tigers will head to Washington, D.C. to play in the CAA Tournament. Towson will play the winner of the 8/9 seed game in the CAA quarterfinals on Sunday, March 9th. The game is scheduled for 12 p.m. The game will be streamed on FloCollege.
Heavy rain, with a high of 67 and low of 39 degrees. Don't forget your umbrella! Patchy rain nearby for the morning, light rain in the afternoon, moderate rain for the evening, patchy rain nearby overnight.