TOWSON, Md. - After seeing hundreds of basketball games live, they all run together.
You remember championship moments, great performances and the monumental upsets.
But, those who played on the floor or were in the Towson Center on Saturday afternoon probably won't remember that Oregon State beat the Tigers, 66-46. Most won't remember that Devon Collier was the Beavers' leading scorerwith 15 points or that Marcus Damas led the Tigers with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
What they will remember is that President Barack Obama and the First Family were spectators in the crowd to see Oregon State Coach Craig Robinson, who is the brother of First Lady Michelle Obama. And that actor Bill Murray, father of Towson assistant coach Luke Murray, spent a few moments with the President.
The fans will also remember halftime when the Tiger football team showed the crowd its 2011 Colonial Athletic Association Championship trophy, which was followed by a handshake and picture with the President. And they will remember when Coach Rob Ambrose took the microphone and threatened his players with laps if they didn't give the President some space.
The Tigers didn't appear to be shaken by the presence of the President and First Lady, who arrived about 10 minutes before the game. Towson actually led, 18-17, with 7:36 on redshirt freshman Jamel Flash's first dunk and basket. But, the Tigers scored just two points the rest of the way as they trailed 32-20 at the half.
It was good while it lasted for the 0-5 Tigers.
"They knew," said Towson Coach Pat Skerry about the arrival of the Obama family. "The whole week it was a little bit crazy in there. Watching Oregon State on tape, we realized how good they were. Much better than it was initially thought of.
"I asked Coach Ambrose to speak to the team right before the game," Skerry added. "We tried to throw everything at them as far as emotion and get them fired up on all cylinders. It was effective."
For Oregon State junior guard Jared Cunningham, playing in front of the President was almost routine.
"This is my third time doing it," said Cunningham after the game. "It's always a great feeling of having the President watching your game. The other team always plays their hardest because it's on their home court. We did a good job tonight and I'm proud of the team for fighting hard."
Oregon State may have been a little fatigued after being on the road since November 19. At 5-1, the Beavers head back home for five straight games starting on Dec. 4. Towson heads to Amherst to take on former University President Robert Caret's Massachusetts Minutemen on Wednesday, Nov. 30 at 7 p.m.
"Whenever you play on the road, it's nice to get a win, especially when you get a long road trip," said Coach Robinson. "This was the 10th day for us. I thought we handled Towson's early start well. We sort of calmed down and got back to our usual way of playing.
"I know how it is when a Pac-12 team comes to a place like this; it's a big game, Coach Robinson added. "On top of this, my relatives are here and it makes it even bigger. We needed an environment like this for a true road game."
For Skerry and the Tigers, the season doesn't get any easier with UMass, which is off to a 5-2 start, followed by their CAA opener against George Mason at home next Saturday (7:30 p.m. start).
"Before this game, we played the 9th-toughest non-conference schedule in the country," said Skerry. "We can grow from this and get better. You'll find our kids are resilient. We'll get back at it in practice."
Skerry added, "At the end of the day, good programs and good teams do the little things and right things everyday that give you chance to win basketball games like defend, rebound and take care of the basketball. We're not there yet. Hopefully playing against some of these very strong basketball teams will benefit us when we get into CAA play."
Around the CAA
Speaking of CAA play, here's a look at some of the performances on Saturday. The CAA went 5-3 with losses by Towson, UNC Wilmington (70-67 home loss to Davidson) and William & Mary (67-58 road loss to Howard). The Seahawks fall to 0-4 on the season while the Tribe is 1-6.
Delaware improved to 2-2 on the season with an 81-78 home win over Lafayette. Hofstra (3-3) defeated Cleveland State, 63-53, at the TicketCity Legends Classic in Kingston, R.I.
Other winners included Northeastern (3-1) over St. John's on the road, 78-64; James Madison (3-2) edged Pennsylvania on the road, 60-58, and Georgia State (3-3) routed Liberty, 72-50, at home.
