By Ryan Leshko
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Last year, Towson struggled on offense. Points per game (67.8), field goal percentage (43.5) and 3-point shooting percentage (32.7): all last or tied for last in the Colonial Athletic Association.
But on night one of a new season, Towson showed improvement, incremental as it was: scoring 72 points, shooting 46 percent and hitting seven 3-pointers (on 58.3 percent shooting).
All of that equaled a stress-free 72-58 victory for the Tigers Tuesday night over George Washington at SECU Arena.
“I couldn’t get our group to win close games last year,” Skerry said. “We’ve started by changing some things offensively and we implemented and worked on it and we’re in a decent place right now.”
That place: 1-0 and looking at two likely victories before a Nov. 14 road trip to take on the Florida Gators.
In its first season opener at SECU Arena since 2013, Towson showed promise, avenging a 68-64 loss at George Washington a season ago. The Tigers won their first game against the Colonials since 1981.
Towson struggled early, only scoring 6 points with just under 12 minutes to go in the first half. The team started off shooting 2-for-11 from the field. Things looked grim on offense.
However, Towson pulled it together starting with a bucket from Brian Fobbs, sparking an early 5-0 run. Allen Betrand made his mark early, scoring 13 points in the first half on 6-of-10 shooting. Juwan Gray, in his first game at Towson after transferring from the University of San Diego, had 8 points off the bench.
Going into the second half with a 32-23 lead, Towson continued to improve their shooting. Freshman Jason Gibson provided another spark coming off the bench. He and Gray combined for 19 points in the second half.
Betrand capped off a strong performance with a career high 18 points. He went 7-of-15 from the field, with 6 rebounds and 2 assists.
With Betrand healthy, the team is buying in and Betrand is gaining the trust of his head coach.
“He’s just trusting me with the ball,” Betrand said. “He told me to attack and that’s what I do. I think the first year, he didn’t trust me very much because I was a freshman. But now he sees what I can do now. I can rebound, play defense. I can do it all.”
Gray also posted a career high in points with 17. He shot 7 of 10 from the field with 4 rebounds. He was a perfect 3 of 3 shooting from behind the arc.
“All the work that I put in last season and this offseason is starting to pay off,” Gray said.
Head coach Pat Skerry was especially excited to see Betrand and Gray back on the floor for Towson.
“[Betrand] is going to make a big jump and we’re not surprised, he had a big offseason,” said Skerry. “I told you guys we were trying to get [Gray] eligible for a reason, he gives us a weapon that we haven’t had.”
Added Skerry: “I’m excited, but it’s only one game. I’m sure we’ll watch film and there will be a whole lot of stuff we got to work on.”