By Chris Cobb
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Ask most basketball players about their most memorable game and they’ll likely cite one in which they scored the most points, hit the most important shot or were on the court in a pivotal moment.
Towson’s Dennis Tunstall cites a game — one of many last season — in which he was a force on the boards. On Feb. 14, he had a record performance, grabbing 21 rebounds in a home loss against Delaware. This broke the previous record of 18 held by 2014 CAA Player of the Year Jerelle Benimon, which was also against Delaware.
“I was in the zone that game,” Tunstall said. “Delaware was missing shots, and the ball kept bouncing my way.”
The 6 foot 9 inch forward had a breakout junior year that earned him a spot on the All-CAA Defensive Team. He led the team in rebounding (7.7 per game) and blocked shots (1 per game). In the CAA, Tunstall was ninth in rebounding and third in blocked shots.
Tunstall is more confident now that he won his first accolade last year, but he still has one more goal in mind.
“It definitely helps a lot knowing you reached the goal, but there’s one higher goal which is defensive player of the year, which is the main goal,” Tunstall said. “That’s the main goal. That’s the motivation.”
Tunstall wants the team to have a better season than last year, when Towson went 10-22.
“A challenge from last year was staying together as a team,” Tunstall said. “I feel like we broke down a lot once we started losing at the beginning of the season. I feel like our team now; our chemistry is a lot better.”
Tunstall said he expects Towson to be better on defense this season.
“Our intensity has gone up on the defensive end,” Tunstall said. “Coach focuses more on defense in practice more than last year.”
Another aspect of his game that has been intense is training. The men’s basketball team has a new strength coach who has been helping with the team’s preparation.
“Training has been very intense,” Tunstall said. “Our new strength coach, coach [Paul] Ricci, definitely helps us a lot with on the court drills.”
Towson coach Pat Skerry expects Tunstall to be a defensive stopper once again.
“He’s one of my favorite guys I’ve had the opportunity to coach here,” Skerry said. “He’s way tougher than he looks. He plays hurt, loves playing and he’s competitive. He’s obviously a key player being an all defensive performer last year and our leading returning rebounder.
Skerry said Tunstall will guard the opposing team’s best offensive forward.
Despite being aggressive on the defensive side of the ball, Tunstall often isn’t as aggressive on the offensive side of the ball. Skerry wants that to change this season.
“We want him to be more aggressive on offense,” Skerry said. “We’ve seen some flurries of that in the fall. We want him to shoot it because he’s a good shooter. He’s pretty good at driving, and he’s a great offensive rebounder.”
Tunstall led the Tigers in field goal percentage (55.4) while averaging 5.7 points per game.
Skerry said taking care of the basketball is also one of Tunstall’s strengths. Last season, Tunstall turned the ball over 0.6 times per game. That’s the highest of his career, but he also played the most minutes of his career last year.
Skerry said Tunstall also makes his teammates better.
“He’s an awesome teammate,” Skerry said. “He’s unselfish. I wish they were all like him to be honest with you. I bet every coach in the country would love to have a guy like Dennis Tunstall.”