Final Score: Towson 72, College of Charleston 57
Top Performers:
Jerelle Benimon 21 pts, 11 rebs, 40 mins
Willis Hall 20 pts, 12 rebs
For the past six games the Cougars had been clicking offensively behind the return of Nori Johnson and consistent shooting of Anthony Stitt. The clunky, turnover-prone play that buried the Cougs in half their out-of-conference games faded away and good things appeared to be on the horizon. This afternoon, facing one of the CAA's stingiest defenses, the Cougars' flaws were exposed and they struggled mightily en route to a season and league low in field goal shooting (33.3%).
Early on Willis Hall once again carried the team. He was responsible for almost all of Charleston's point and rebounding production in the first half and probably has the bumps and bruises to prove it. Nori Johnson, starting his first game of the year, was unable to seize the moment (0 points for the game on 0-7 shooting). He was not the only CofC player to struggle. Anthony Stitt seemed hesitant to drive to the rim all night with Towson's size inside. Chealey had trouble finding the passing lanes to the paint and had two turnovers and a personal foul within his first few minutes of playing time. AT is normally the teams fifth scoring option but found himself driving into traffic with his backcourt mates all but smothered.
If there was a welcome sight in this game it was that Adjehi finally looked like the Adjehi Baru of old. Unlike previous scouting reports for CofC, Towson chose to leave him un-doubled and he looked polished and patient operating in the low post (7 for 11 for 15 points). Defensively he challenged Benimon all afternoon, sticking with him when he drove to the basket and bothering the potential CAA POY with his length.
We knew this game would be a battle in the paint but I don't think anyone predicted how much the Cougars (outside Hall and Baru) would struggle. With Baru going one-on-one, the rest of the Tigers were free to close out CofC's shooters and things went south quickly in the second half when Willis' superhuman efforts started to wear thin. The Cougs went on a 7 minute drought without a field goal, shot 19% for 12 points in the 2nd period before garbage time kicked in and couldn't buy a bucket without Nori or Hall on the floor to attract the defense's attention.
On the other side of the ball, Towson was able to capitalize off CofC's 10 turnovers (18 points off those) and 14 offensive rebounds. Charleston made the final rebounding numbers respectable but that number is misleading given all the misses by The College. Benimon, as would be expected, was the one to lead Towson's pulling away. Baru gave him space to take jumpers and in the span of a few minutes he had hit three in a row to put a mini boom on the scoreboard. Four McGlynn, someone the Cougars had not faced yet, also found himself open behind the arc and burned the Cougars for 11 points. Rafriel Guthrie, coming off the bench for Towson had 14 points. The Charleston bench contributed just 6 points all together.
The loss hurts since Charleston could have narrowed the gap between teams at the top of the CAA standings. Now they fall to the middle of the pack and Towson remains undefeated in conference play. You can live with the effort by CofC - they fought until the very end of regulation, but the wins will continue to be tough to achieve the rest of the season.
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