TOWSON, Md. - On March 5, 1991, Towson's men's basketball team defeated Rider, 69-63, to win the East Coast Conference Championship on ESPN, earning an automatic berth to the NCAA Championship for the second straight year.
Less than two weeks later, the Tigers would give it their all, but were eliminated from the NCAA Tournament in the first round by Ohio State in a game played in Dayton, Ohio. The Buckeyes were ranked second in the nation and Towson fell by 97-86. But, at one point, the Tigers were down, 75-70, with less than five minutes to play.
The game was decided when Devin Boyd, the Tigers' star point guard, fouled out. He ended up scoring 17 points in just 21 minutes due to foul trouble. Chuck Lightening was named as the CBS-TV Player of the Game with a game-high 26 points while Terrance Jacobs chipped in with 22 points.
It's hard to forget that particular time or that specific game. As an unbiased observer (yeah right) doing color for WCVT (now WTMD), it surely appeared that Boyd wasn't allowed to play his game. He was a strong defensive player who used his quick hands to deflect passes and his great instincts to pick them off. The Tigers were without their leader against the second-ranked team in the nation and Ohio State was able to gain a large advantage in his absence.
Who would have thought that 20 years later, that loss to Ohio State would be the end of an era? Through several conference and coaching changes, Towson was never able to find a group of players as successful as Boyd, Lightening, Jacobs and Kurk Lee.
The following year, Boyd broke his arm in the first half in the first game at Colorado (despite scoring 20 points) and Towson would again be without their leader. But, in the final season of the ECC, Towson managed to ride Jacobs, Lightening and a young freshman named Terrance "Scooter" Alexander to another championship.
Unfortunately, due to Drexel and Delaware leaving for the North Atlantic Conference (which became the America East Conference) and Lafayette and Lehigh leaving for the Patriot League, the ECC was without an automatic bid and Towson was left out of the NCAA Tournament.
At some point, Towson will get back to the postseason and I can stop waxing poetic about the teams of the late 80s and early 90s. These teams had very strong guard play and frontcourt players who knew that their roles were to defend and rebound.
While both teams belong in the Hall of Fame as "Teams of Distincton" without question, neither won over 20 games. They also had their share of failures, but were always able to bounce back from adversity.
But, that was the charm of those basketball teams, who were not flawless. When they needed to get the big win or when they were up against tougher competition, the Tigers usually stepped up.
Outside of Gary Neal, Lee was arguably the greatest Tiger to ever wear the uniform. At a listed 6-foot-3 (he was closer to 6-1), he could post up most guards or could face the basket and shoot the three. He averaged 26 points per game as a senior and went on to a one-year stint with the New Jersey Nets and then a long professional career overseas.
Not only was Lee gone from that outstanding 1989-90 team, but so was Kennell Jones, a 6-4 forward who did all the dirty work for the team on defense and and smooth-shooting Kelly Williamson. Towson also lost 6-8 center Mike Morin, an underrated performer who gave them size and a nice shooting touch from the outside.
This was the team that gave Oklahoma fits before losing, 77-68, as Lee scored 30 points while Jones added 11 points and 10 rebounds. I really think that game set the tone for Towson to go up against the high-majors in the future.
In the upcoming seasons, Towson would play close with Maryland, Syracuse, North Carolina and Tennessee - just to name a few. And they finally broke through in 1993 when they defeated St. John's, 66-65, in the Pre-Season NIT. Of course, they later ended up defeating West Virginia and Louisville the following season.
So, the 1990-91 team looked to be in rebuilding mode after losing four starters. That's what made the coaching job of Hall of Famer Terry Truax more impressive. He had to mold a talented but young team into a winner. And it wasn't easy as the Tigers lost to Dayton and Maryland to start the season by a combined 44 points.
Truax and ace recruiter Jim Meil brought in a solid recruiting class to help aid Lightening and Boyd. The player who replaced Lee wasJacobs, a 6-foot-3 defensive-minded guard with a nose for the ball from Southern High School in Baltimore who spent two years at acclaimed Allegany Community College.
Jacobs wasn't the scorer that Lee was, but he was able to use his long reach to defend and dominate the glass. The Tigers also added 6-6 freshman forward Matt Campbell and 6-8 center John James to help the frontcourt.
James was immediately added to the starting lineup to replace Morin and at first glance, it was difficult to see how a 175-pound center would hold up throughout the season by giving away 50-75 pounds on any given night.
Yet, James did more than just hold his own, ending his career as the Tigers' all-time leader in blocked shots.
Once the '90-91 team got the roles set, it was hard to find a better team in Towson Basketball history. After losing to Billy Owens and Syracuse by just five, 78-73, in Hershey, Pa. on December 20, 1990, the Tigers split with Alabama (loss) and Navy (win) at the Blue Angels Classic in Florida. They also split with Bucknell (win) and Lehigh (loss on the road) and then, ended up winning eight straight and 10 of their next 11 games. The only loss in that stretch was an 85-84 home defeat to local rival Loyola.
But, when tournament time began in March, Towson was ready. The Tigers withstood a very hungry UMBC team in the semi-finals, winning by 78-76 as Jacobs hit a 16-footer to earning the victory.
Boyd was the catalyst in the ECC championship game against Rider as the Tigers were down most of the second half. Boyd converted a natural three-point play with 1:06 left to give the Tigers a 62-61 lead.
There was a reason those of us in the student media gave out the term "Big Three" to Boyd, Jacobs and Lightening. Just when you thought one player was ready to take over a game, another would show up.
Lightening always had a flair for the dramatic and there was no better play to describe his game than late in the Rider game. With 45 seconds remaining and the Tigers holding onto a one-point lead, he knocked a pass towards midcourt. While running at full speed, he tried to control the basketball with two Broncs in pursuit. He finally gathered the ball near the other foul line and ascended to the basket for a powerful slam dunk that sent the "Tiger Dome" crowd into a frenzy and gave Towson a three-point advantage.
James added two free throws to seal the win and also added five blocked shots to help the Tiger defense claim the 69-63 win and their second straight ECC Championship.
This was an unforgettable team full of unique personalities and players. From Truax's post-game comments that often quoted his mentor Dean Smith to Boyd's late-game heroics to Jacobs' hustle to Lightening's dunks to James' blocked shots, this basketball team was never dull to cover.
They also had what makes good teams great - intestinal fortitude. Nobody could intimidate Boyd or Jacobs or tell Lightening he couldn't play with Billy Owens or Jimmy Jackson.
And how could you forget former PA announcer Fred Shapiro chant the name "LEEEEWWWIS Waller," every time the 5-10 sixth man from Delaware scored a basket.
I can't believe it's been 20 years and what a great time it was (and still is) to be a Tiger. I salute the 1990-91 basketball team and kudos to them and their 1989-90 counterparts for becoming "Teams of Distinction" in the Towson University Hall of Fame.
