Towson University coach Michael Hunt has waited patiently over the past two seasons for his young team to mature.
The wait may be over.
Last night, facing Colonial Athletic Association leader UNC-Wilmington, the team that last March took Maryland to the wire in the opening round of the NCAA tournament, host Towson rallied from an early deficit to build a late seven-point lead before Derrick Goode's off-balance follow-up bounced in at the buzzer to give the Tigers a thrilling, 57-55 victory.
"We've sort of been shaking the tree, and an apple was falling here and there," said Hunt, whose team, 4-24 a year ago, has won three of four. "Tonight, I think a lot of them fell."
Towson forward Lawrence Hamm finished with 24 points and 11 rebounds, including 18 and 10, respectively, in the second half, when the bigger Tigers (6-9 overall, 3-3 CAA) had 10 offensive rebounds.
It was their final rebound, however, that sealed the outcome.
After the Seahawks squandered their chance to take the lead with 22 seconds left when forward Anthony Terrell lost the ball in traffic, Towson called timeout with 10 seconds left.
With the clock ticking down, Tigers point guard Michael Green drove the right side and put up an off-balance layup that rimmed out. Goode got the uncontested rebound and followed with a hard layup that bounced around the rim before dropping.
"Everybody was concentrating on Michael when he came off the screen; nobody was boxing me out," Goode said. "So I just got in a good rebound position, and as soon as it came off the rim, I just grabbed it and I just laid it back up."
The shot was the culmination of a game that Towson controlled for most of the second half.
The Tigers held UNC-Wilmington to a season-low 35.1 percent from the field and blocked eight shots, sending the Seahawks (9-6, 5-2), who had outscored the Tigers by an average of 26 points in their past four meetings, to their first loss in five games.
UNC-WILMINGTON--Terrell 4-12 5-11 13, Lane 2-7 0-0 5, Coombs 0-3 0-0 0, Goldsberry 3-8 0-0 8, Spencer 5-11 1-3 13, Carter 1-4 0-0 3, Justus 0-1 0-0 0, Noel 0-1 0-0 0, Gunn 1-2 0-0 2, Lay 0-1 0-0 0, Laue 2-5 0-0 4, Wyrick 2-2 0-0 6. Totals 20-57 6-14 55. TOWSON--Hamm 9-12 6-9 24, Petkunas 2-10 0-0 5, Dixon 0-0 0-0 0, Green 0-8 1-2 1, Gilchrist 4-9 3-5 14, Jackson 0-3 0-0 0, Tubbs 0-0 0-0 0, Goode 2-5 2-2 6, Pease 2-2 1-2 7. Totals 19-49 13-20 57. Halftime--Towson, 24- 23. 3-point goals--N.C.-Wilmington 9-21 (Terrell 0-1, Lane 1-4, Goldsberry 2-5, Spencer 2-3, Carter 1-4, Gunn 1-1, Lay 0-1, Wyrick 2-2), Towson 6-20 (Petkunas 1-7, Green 0-3, Gilchrist 3-6, Jackson 0-2, Pease 2-2). Fouled out--None. Rebounds--N.C.-Wilmington 35 (Terrell 11), Towson 42 (Hamm 11). Assists--N.C.-Wilmington 13 (Goldsberry 8), Towson 16 (Green 9). Total fouls--N.C.-Wilmington 20, Towson 15. A--1,006.