TOWSON, Md. - Last week, we took a look at the CAA Men's Basketball Championship. The Tigers were unable to pull the upset against Delaware in the first round, but just like the first two meetings between the two schools, the game was tight. 

The Tigers actually tied the game at 53-53 with seven minutes to go after the Tigers had been down by 18 points in the first half. Unfortunately, the Blue Hens came up with some clutch shooting from sophomore guard Devon Saddler. He hit a three-pointer falling backwards with the shot clock expiring that gave Delaware a four-point lead with 6:06 to go that the Tigers were not able to recover from after that point.

But, the story of this game was the performance of Robert Nwankwo. He finished with a career-high 27 points and a career-high 20 rebounds. No player in the history of the CAA tournament had ever recorded a 20-point, 20-rebound game, including David Robinson, when he played for Navy. 

To see the growth of Robert over the last five years has been incredible. He came to the Tigers as a walk-on. You could see the ability, but he was extremely raw. Over the years, Robert worked and worked, and as Coach Pat Skerry has been saying, he has a chance to play as a professional. He sure opened some eyes with his performance last Friday.

This week, it's Coach Joe Mathews and the Tiger women’s basketball team that begins their quest at a CAA title. The CAA will hold its women’s championship at the Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, Md. I urge everyone who can attend to be there. The venue is great and believe it or not, even though it’s in the DC suburbs, it is very easy to get to. 

The Tigers will take on Old Dominion in the first round. These two teams met just once during the regular season and it was the final game of the year in Norfolk. ODU was THE power in the CAA for a long time, but the Lady Monarchs made a coaching change after last season as they had become not quite as dominant as in years past. 

In their matchup on February 29, the Tigers led by 27-22 at the half, but the Lady Monarchs scored the first eight points of the second half to take a lead they never gave up. For the Tigers to beat ODU on Thursday, they will have to shoot better than the 29% they shot in last week's meeting and will need to be better than 1-for-14 from three-point range.

If the Tigers win on Thursday, they will advance to get the daunting task of taking on the Delaware Blue Hens on Friday at 12 noon. Delaware went 18-0 in conference play and is led by National Player of the Year candidate Elena Delle Donne. Delaware beat the Tigers in both meetings this year by double-digit margins.

You can hear the Tigers take on Old Dominion at 11:45 a.m. Thursday morning on WNST-AM 1570 with myself and Zach Maskavich calling the action. As far as the Tigers go, Zach and I will have every game on WNST.

There is no lacrosse this weekend, but the Tigers are back in action on Tuesday, March 13 at Johnny Unitas® Stadium. Hunter Lochte and I will have the broadcast for you on WNST.

On Monday March 12 at Pappas’ Restaurant in Parkville, head football coach Rob Ambrose and Director of Athletics Mike Waddell will be honored by the Sports Boosters.  You can get the info here on TowsonTigers.com. It's for a great cause and Tiger fans should all come out. You have to eat dinner on Monday night somewhere right? ☺

Not only is it a great cause, but both men deserve to be honored for their work.

Finally, don’t forget Tiger Talk on Thursday night at Bill Bateman’s in Towson. Damon Lewis and I will have Coach Shawn Nadelen on to talk about the upcoming Navy game along with assistant coach Anthony Gilardi who came to the Tigers this year from the Naval Academy.  Damon and I are there every Thursday night from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.  Hope to see you there, but if you can't make it out, you can hear Tiger Talk on WNST or right here on TowsonTigers.com.