When a team is undersized and gets a 5-for-25 shooting performance from its starting guards, the chances of winning are quite slim.
That was the situation for host Morgan State last night as a bigger Towson team led virtually all the way and recorded a 67-53 victory in the consolation game of the Battle of Baltimore tournament.
Morgan (0-2) was 3-for-24 from the field at one point, shot 23 percent in the first half and finished at 26 percent.
"We're the team that couldn't shoot straight," said Bears coach Butch Beard. "You can't sugarcoat that. We shot that way in the shootaround and brought the same thing to the game."
After a 6-6 tie, the Tigers never trailed, using their superior height to dominate inside and overcoming their propensity for throwing away the ball.
Sophomore Tony Dixon and freshman Stephen Warner both had strong games for Towson (1-1), which has taken five of the past six meetings with Morgan, tying the all-time series at nine victories each.
Dixon, a 6-10 center, scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds in 24 minutes, and Warner chipped in with 10 points and four rebounds.
"We just wanted to stress rebounding. We knew Morgan was good at driving to the basket, and we had plenty of help on the rotation against that," said Dixon.
The Bears hung in contention until the final eight minutes on two three-pointers by Anthony Williams, but Towson scored the next 11 points and put it away.
"They took the life out of us the last six or seven minutes," Beard said.
"We took chances and took away the easy ones from them," Towson coach Michael Hunt said. "We wanted them to work hard on the offensive end. I'm proud of our effort."
TOWSON-Hamm 2-7 5-6 9, McCartney 2-3 0-0 4, Dixon 6-11 0-1 12, Allen 4-13 4-4 13, Gilchrist 2-5 4-6 9, Petkunas 2-3 1-2 5, McSweeney 0-0 2-2 2, Goode 1-5 1-2 3, Warner 4-9 2-4 10. Totals 23-56 19-27 67. MORGAN STATE-Barrow 2-8 6-6 10, Sims 4-15 0-0 8, Snipes 2-9 0-0 5, Dukes 3-17 2-2 11, Patrick 2-4 0-0 4, Timus 2-5 2-3 6, Grandy 0-2 0-0 0, Williams 2-2 0-0 6, Davis 0-2 0-0 0, Pellerin 0-2 3-6 3. Totals 17-66 13-17 53. Halftime-Towson, 30-22. 3-point goals-Towson 2-8 (Allen 1-4, Gilchrist 1-4); Morgan State 6-19 (Williams 2-2, Dukes 3-10, Snipes 1-3, Grandy 0-1, Davis 0-1, Barrow 0-2). Fouled out-none. Rebounds-Towson 50 (Allen 9); Morgan State 39 (Sims 11). Assists-Towson 9 (Allen 4); Morgan State 8 (Barrow, Dukes 2). Total fouls-Towson 16; Morgan State 24. A-na.