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TOWSON'S TOP 10: A Magical Run

TOWSON, Md. – Over the course of the next several weeks, TowsonTigers.com will be counting down the top 10 achievements of Towson University athletic teams and student-athletes in 2008-09, which was another great year for Tiger athletics. Check back each Monday, Wednesday and Friday as we reveal this year's Towson Top Ten.

A magical run by the Tiger men's basketball team in the CAA Tournament makes the list of Towson's Top 10 as the seventh top moment in Towson Athletics during the past year. After entering the CAA Tournament as the 11th seed, the Tigers reached the semi-finals for the first time by defeating Drexel and Northeastern.

The Tigers, who entered the CAA Tournament with a 10-21 record, avenged a pair of regular season losses against the Dragons in the opening round by posting a 73-62 victory at the Richmond Coliseum. The Tigers jumped out to a quick 15-0 lead in the opening minutes and never trailed, leading by as many as 26 points late in the first half.

Senior forward Junior Hairston, who was named to the CAA All-Tournament Team, paced the Tigers in the win over Drexel by scoring 24 points. He made 7 of 11 shots from the floor and was 8-for-12 from the foul line.

Meanwhile, freshman guard Troy Franklin had an impressive outing by converting 9 of 11 free throw attempts en route to a 13-point performance in the first round victory.

Less than 24 hours after dismissing Drexel from the CAA Tournament, the Tigers used another solid performance from Hairston and Franklin to oust third-seeded Northeastern in the quarter-finals with a 58-54 come-from-behind victory. The win earned the Tigers their first CAA semi-final berth in their eight years of CAA membership.

With the win, the Tigers became the lowest seed in CAA Tournament history to reach the semi-finals. After the quarter-final win, Coach Pat Kennedy said, “Obviously I'm very proud of our guys. We maintained ourselves down the stretch. We took care of the ball and we made a lot of defensive plays.”

After trailing by seven points at the intermission, the Huskies used a 14-2 run at the start of the second half to take a 39-34 lead with 13:58 remaining in regulation.

The Tigers rallied to take the lead and had a six-point advantage with 36.4 seconds remaining on a pair of free throws from sophomore guard Brian Morris. After Chaisson Allen nailed a three-point field goal with 19 seconds left, the Huskies closed to within 56-54 with five seconds left when Baptiste Bataille converted just one of three free throws.

Sophomore forward Robert Nwankwo sealed the victory with three seconds left by converting a pair of free throws.

While Hairston led the Tigers with 14 points, Franklin contributed 13 points with four assists. The Tigers shot 48.8 per cent from the field. Meanwhile, Northeastern struggled at the foul line by making just 12 of 24 free throws.

The win over the Huskies set up a semi-final rematch with defending CAA champion George Mason, which had beaten the Tigers twice by identical 71-59 scores during the regular season.

In a back-and-forth first half, the Patriots took a 29-26 lead into the locker room after overcoming a 24-22 deficit by scoring seven of the final nine points in the final minutes. However, the Tigers came out of the intermission and quickly ran off six straight points for a 32-29 advantage.

Trailing by as many as six points, the Patriots made their comeback and led by 45-43 with 7:07 remaining in regulation on a three-point basket by Cam Long. The Tigers closed to within 49-48 with 4:01 remaining with a three-point field goal by junior guard Josh Thornton, but the Tigers were not able to get any closer as the Patriots ended the game on a 7-0 run to seal the victory.

Thornton paced the Tigers with 15 points while Franklin added 10 points. Playing in his final college game, Hairston was limited to just four points but had 10 rebounds and four blocks.

Hairston became the first Tiger to be named to the CAA All-Tournament Team after averaging 14.0 points and 6.7 rebounds per game in the three games.
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