Five days after the end of one streak, Towson men’s basketball has begun another.
The Tigers couldn’t match visiting Delaware’s prowess from 3-point range and failed to bounce back from Saturday’s three-point loss at Hostra, falling to the Blue Hens, 74-62, on Thursday night before an announced 3,505 at TU Arena.
Towson (14-10, 7-4 Coastal Athletic Association) had enjoyed five victories in a row until losing 59-56 against the Pride last weekend. Righting the ship should have been a top priority for the players, but they were overwhelmed by a Blue Hens team that found its rhythm early and often.
Delaware shot a season-high 57.9% from behind the 3-point line, and it tied a season best with 11 threes on 19 attempts. The offense missed a few more 3-point shots than free throws (five).
The setback ruined what had been an unblemished record at home for the Tigers. They slid to 10-1 this season at TU Arena and 18-1 in their past 19 home games, absorbing their first loss in Towson since a 76-74 overtime defeat to the College of Charleston on Dec. 31, 2022. The 18-game run at home had been the second-longest active streak in the NCAA.
Graduate student power forward Charles Thompson led Towson with 18 points and 11 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season. Redshirt junior point guard Nendah Tarke chipped in 13 points, four rebounds and three assists, and freshman shooting guard Tyler Tejada added 12 points and four rebounds.
But the Tigers got little from a pair of starters. Sophomore shooting guard Christian May, their leading scorer at 12.1 points per game, was limited to two points on 1 of 6 shooting, including 0 of 3 from 3-point range. Senior small forward Messiah Jones finished with zero points, two rebounds, one assist, one turnover and one personal foul.
It was probably going to take a torrid-shooting opponent to end the Tigers’ home winning streak, and Delaware seemed more than happy to play that role. The team drained its first four shots — all behind the 3-point line — and added another 3-pointer after two misses inside the line to assume a 15-6 advantage with 15:01 left in the first half.
Towson responded with an 11-4 burst to narrow the deficit to 19-17 with 10:23 remaining. But the Blue Hens used timely buckets to go up 26-21 with 8:04 left.
Delaware then scored eight unanswered points in a 2:54 span to enjoy its largest advantage of the period at 34-21 with 4:50 remaining. The Tigers went 4:44 without a point until junior small forward Tomiwa Sulaiman hit a 3-pointer from the right wing at the 3:20 mark.
Towson got a layup from Tarke to trim the gap to eight, 34-26, and held the Blue Hens scoreless for 4:49. But graduate student point guard Gerald Drumoogle Jr. grabbed an offensive rebound and slammed home a dunk with one second left to send Delaware into halftime with a 36-26 advantage.
Drumoogle paced Delaware, which has won three straight and five of its past seven games, with a game-high 20 points on 7 of 10 shooting (3 of 6 from 3-point range), four assists and three rebounds.
Senior small forward Jyare Davis contributed 15 points, 15 rebounds and three assists, sophomore shooting guard Cavan Reilly had 12 points and three rebounds, and senior shooting guard Niels Lane added 11 points and three assists.
The victory allowed the Blue Hens to end a three-game skid in the all-time series and avoid a season sweep by the Tigers — who won the first meeting, 67-56, on Jan. 27 — for the second time in the last three seasons.
This story will be updated.
Elon at Towson
Monday, 9 p.m.
TV: CBS Sports Network
