ESTERO, Fla. – Mike Morsell scored 16 points and hit a big free throw late to lead Towson to a 70-67 men's basketball victory over Georgia Southern in the championship game of the Gulf Coast Showcase Wednesday evening in Germain Arena.
Jake Allsmiller scored 18 points to lead Georgia Southern (5-1), and
Mike Hughes finished with 12 points – all in the second half - and nine rebounds.
Montae Glenn tallied 11 points and five rebounds, and
B.J. Gladden posted 10 points and four boards.
Tookie Brown, who was named to the all-tournament team, collected a career-high 11 assists and scored all seven of his points after halftime.
Morsell hit 6 of 12 from the field and made 3 of 6 from 3-point range for Towson (5-1) and was named MVP of the tournament. Brian Starr scored 15 points and made all eight of his free throws, while Deshaun Morman scored 13 points, with 12 coming in the first half.
The story
With the Eagles trailing by five, Hughes was fouled and made all three free throws with four seconds to go. GS fouled Morsell, who made 1-of-2 from the line for a 70-67 Towson lead. The Eagles hustled the ball over half court and called timeout with 2.1 left. Hughes inbounded to Allsmiller, who dribbled, pump faked and saw his 3-point try come up short.
Trailing by 10 points midway through the second half, Allsmiller hit consecutive triples in a 17-3 GS run, and a pair of free throws by Hughes gave the Eagles a 59-55 lead with 4:43 to go. GS forced three Towson turnovers and held the Tigers to 1-of-5 from the field during the run.
With GS leading 62-60, Towson scored the next seven points as Eddie Keith III scored an and-1 and Morsell made a transition layup after a Starr steal. Allsmiller missed two 3-pointers on the other end, and his second try that would have tied the game with 30 seconds left just popped out. The Eagles were forced to foul, and Towson hit 3 of 4 from the line to keep GS at bay.
Towson scored the first seven points of the second period to extend a seven-point halftime lead to 36-22 just 1:16 into the frame. The Tigers held the Eagles 23 percent shooting in the first half, and GS struggled from the free-throw line again, making 19 of 32.
Quotables
Head coach Mark Byington
"I thought our defense was about as good as it's been this year. They are a difficult team to guard. They were shooting almost 50 percent coming into the game, and they are a tremendous rebounding team. Our defense was much better, but we just couldn't get going offensively."
"The big thing on offense in the second half was we were moving and sharing the ball. In the first half, we were taking hard shots. I told the guys it's November 22, and I wasn't going to be doused with Gatorade when this was over, so let's use it for motivation and let's use it for learning. I saw us grow up and learn some things in the second half. I wish we would have finished. It was a tough break there when Tookie was driving and lost the ball, and I thought his hand got slapped pretty loud, and they come down and make a shot off that turnover and go up three and I thought that was a big possession."
"Jake had a decent look at the end. He was going so well, we thought we'd try to give him a good look."
"I'm not discouraged at all. I know a lot more about this team after playing these three games down here, and we played some good teams and did a lot of good things."
Next up
The Eagles travel to Bradley for a 2 p.m. ET contest Saturday. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3.
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