TOWSON, Md. - With Coastal Carolina University poised to ruin the Tigers' home opener with a last minute comeback, the Tiger defense held the Chanticleers on downs at the Towson 12-yard line as the Tigers (1-1) earned an emotional 21-17 victory over the Chanticleers (1-2) before a crowd of 7,628 at Johnny Unitas® Stadium on Saturday night.

With the win, the Tigers presented their first-year Coach, Rob Ambrose, with his first victory as the Towson head coach.

With the Tigers clinging to a 21-17 lead and 3:33 remaining, junior quarterback Zach MacDowall drove the Chanticleers from their own 20-yard line to the Tiger 12. After MacDowall was hurried into a pair of incomplete passes by the Tiger pass rush, he faced a fourth down-and-seven. On fourth down, he moved around the pocket and fired a pass to Akeem Wesley in the back of the end zone. Wesley couldn't hold on to the pass and the Tigers took over with 58 seconds remaining.

Then, they ran out the clock and celebrated their fifth consecutive victory in a home opener.

"This was a victory for belief," said Coach Ambrose. "Coastal Carolina has a very good team and they are going to win a lot of games. We've been preaching to our players that if we play physical and play tough, good things are bound to happen. We got our reward tonight."

After jumping out to a 14-0 lead in the first half, the Tigers had to hold off several bids by Coastal Carolina to take the lead. The Chanticleers cut their deficit to 14-7 in the second half and 14-10 in the third quarter before the Tigers went ahead by 21-10 early in the fourth quarter. After Coastal cut its deficit to 21-17 with 10:29 remaining, the Tigers were held on for the win.

With 5:18 remaining, junior cornerback Ollie Thomas intercepted a pass and returned it 38 yards to the Coastal 27-yard line. That play made it seem that the Tigers would clinch the victory. But, Josh Norman intercepted a pass in the end zone to give the Chanticleers the ball back.

"This is a tremendous win for our players, our coaches, our staff, our school and our community," said Coach Ambrose. "There's a vibe here now. Nobody is sure what it is yet - but there's some type of magic or karma. Maybe it helped us on that fourth down play in the end zone.

"This victory wasn't pretty and we made a lot of mistakes," he added. "But this is a win. Belief is stronger than fact. Every week, our players' belief gets stronger. "

On Coastal Carolina's second offensive play of the game, quarterback Jamie Childers scampered around the right end and ran 83 yards down the sideline for an apparent touchdown. However, there was a penalty flag back at the line of scrimmage. Unaware that his long TD run was going to be nullified, Childers drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for an excessive celebration in the end zone. When the officials sorted everything out, the Chanticleers were backed up at their own four-yard line. Three plays later, Ben Erdman shanked his punt, giving the Tigers excellent field position at the Coastal Carolina 23-yard line.

Facing third-and-goal at the Coastal four-yard line, freshman quarterback Tommy Chroniger rolled to his left and threw back to the right. He fired a four-yard touchdown pass to senior tight end John Godlasky. When Jon Boyer converted, the Tigers owned a 7-0 lead with 5:10 remaining in the first quarter.

Late in the first quarter, the Tigers marched 83 yards in 12 plays to take a 14-0 lead. Led by their other first-year freshman quarterback, Peter Athens, the Tigers had two third down conversions, including a 24-yard reception by Godlasky. On third-and-goal from the four-yard line, Athens threw a slant pass to senior Dave Newsom for a touchdown and a 14-0 edge.

Trailing by 14-0, the Chanticleers got great field position when Tre Henderson returned the kickoff 33 yards. On third-and-eight at the 50-yard line, Childers completed a 38-yard pass to Brandon Whitley. Three plays later, Childers' 12-yard touchdown pass to tight end David Duran cut Coastal's deficit to 14-7.

 Midway through the third quarter, Childers was injured on a run up the sideline and had to leave the game. MacDowall, the Chanticleers' starter quarterback in the first two games of the season, came off the bench and sparked Coastal's offense. His 46-yard completion to Jonathan Morgan moved the ball to the Towson 29-yard line. On third-and-goal at the Towson three-yard line, MacDowall threw an incomplete pass into the end zone and Coastal was forced to settle for a 20-yard field goal by Justin Durham. That made the score 14-10 with 1:36 left in the third period.

Early in the fourth quarter, the Tiger defense forced the Chanticleers to punt from deep in their own territory. A fair catch by Newsom at the Coastal 47-yard line gave Towson tremendous field position. After tailback Tremayne Dameron ran the ball four times, the Tigers moved to the Coastal 13-yard line. On second down, Athens used a double pump fake and threw a perfect pass to a wide-open Newsom in the corner of the end zone, giving Towson a 21-10 lead with 11:43 remaining.

It was Newsom's second touchdown reception of the contest.

But the Chanticleers wasted very little time getting back into the game. Using a "no-huddle" offense, Coastal marched 64 yards in five plays, a drive that was capped off by a six-yard touchdown pass from MacDowall to Whitley. That cut the Tigers' lead to 21-17 with 10:29 remaining.

However, the Towson defense made some big plays down the stretch to preserve the win.

Junior cornerback Jeremy Gardner led the Tiger defense with eight tackles while junior defensive tackle Yaky Ibia made seven tackles and had a quarterback hit. Linebacker Danzel White added six tackles and senior defensive end Brady Smith made five tackles, including a sack.

Thomas and sophomore Danny Collins each made three tackles and intercepted a pass.

In the win over Coastal, the Tigers intercepted more than one pass in a game for the first time since Nov. 11, 2006 when they had three interceptions in a 31-7 win at Richmond. That was a stretch of 26 games.

"Coach (Matt) Hachmann has been preaching that we need to run to the ball and create more turnovers," said Thomas. "That's what we're trying to do and it resulted in two picks tonight."

Dameron led the Tigers' running game by picking up 84 yards on 21 carries as Towson rushed for 138 yards. The Tiger defense held Coastal to 94 rushing yards on 28 carries.

In his second start, Athens led the Tiger offense by completing 13 of 18 passes for 132 yards and two touchdowns. Chroniger completed four of seven passes for 45 yards and one TD. He also ran for 27 yards on 12 carries.

Dameron, who picked up 145 all-purpose yards, caught seven passes for 61 yards. Newsome caught five passes for 48 yards and two touchdowns. It was the first two-touchdown game of his career.

MacDowall came off the bench to complete 11 of 21 passes for 185 yards and a touchdown while playing less than half the game. Childers completed 9 of 13 passes for 110 yards and one touchdown.

"It's a disappointing loss," admitted Coastal Coach David Bennett. "But Towson deserved to win. They made the plays when they needed them. Towson has a good team, a very good team and Towson is better than its record has shown. They play in the Colonial Athletic Association and that is one tough conference. The last two years, I think the CAA has sent five teams to NCAA playoffs."

Now 1-1 on the season, the Tigers return to action next Saturday when they travel to Morgan State for a 4:00 game at Hughes Stadium. It will be the 22^nd meeting between the two schools that are located five miles apart.

TIGER TIDBITS: With the win over Coastal Carolina, the Tigers avenged a 31-3 loss to the Chanticleers in South Carolina last year ... The victory also enabled the Tigers to avoid their first 0-2 start since 1991 ... The victory also snapped Towson's six-game losing streak dating back to October 11, 2008 when the Tigers beat Rhode Island ... The Tigers' crowd of 7,628 was the seventh-largest crowd in Unitas Stadium history.

The Tigers' game captains for the Coastal Carolina contest were wide receivers Tamba Tongu and Newsom along with linebacker Alex Butt and Smith ... Butt, who was a game-time decision due to a shoulder injury, started at linebacker and made five tackles.

Both teams hurt themselves with penalties ... Coastal Carolina was penalized eight times for 78 yards while Towson was penalized 12 times for 80 yards.

After intercepting two passes against Coastal Carolina, the Tigers have three interceptions on the season ... Last year, Towson had only three interceptions in 12 games ... Collins' interception was the first of his career.

In the first two games, Newsom has caught 11 passes for 122 yards with three touchdowns ... He scored only two touchdowns last season.

Chroniger's four-yard TD pass to Godlasky was the first touchdown pass of his college career ... Dameron's total of 84 rushing yards was a career high.

In its 71-game history, Coastal Carolina has now played 37 night games ... The Chanticleers are now 24-13 in night games and 8-6 on the road in night games ... When they visited Towson, the Chanticleers played on an artificial surface for just the 12^th time ever ... Coastal Carolina is now 4-8 in games played on artificial surfaces.