The Tribe Has Spoken

The Towson Tigers travel to Kaplan Arena Tuesday night for an early season CAA match-up. Towson will definitely be favored, led by star guard Gary Neal, but they have struggled mightily on the road this year and the Tribe is 3-0 @ W&M Hall, coming off 2 barn-burners resulting in W’s. This looks like it will be a spectacular game.

The Tribe will be led by it’s guard play, more specifically Adam Payton and Laimis Kisielius. Laimis scored 20 and 21 in the 2 TOC games, and is averaging over 15 on the year. He is also the team’s most versatile player, but needs to cut down on the turnovers. Payton was named tip-off classic MVP for his clutch foul shots and his 3 late steals that pretty much won us the game. He is statistically the team’s best rebounder, averages 11.5 ppg, and is a solid shooter. Adam and Laimis have been suprisingly good for us so far, and without them stepping up I can’t even imagine how bad we’d be.

Nathan Mann and David Schneider also can’t be forgotten. Mann scored in double figures both TOC games, bumping up his average to 7.2. He struggled immensly early in the year, but has turned it around. He has proved in the past to be the team’s best shooter, and sunk a clutch shot against Cornell Saturday night. David Schneider WILL play, coming off an ankle injury suffered in practice causing him to miss 3 games. The Tribe was visibly hurt by his departure, but with him returning to the lineup I think  we’ll be stronger than ever. He is averaging 10 points per game, a number hampered by his injury, and was our best player through the first 3 games. Hopefully he is 100% and not slowed by his ankle at all. Adam Trumbower, a former walk-on, has provided the Tribe many valuable minutes, and we wouldn’t have won Saturday without his gutsy play.

W&M has several capable big men, but none of them have stepped up. Corey Cofield, Chris Darnell, Pete Stein, Alex Smith, and Danny Sumner could all explode any game, but until that happens the big men will be a disappointment.

The Towson Tigers are led by Gary Neal, one of the CAA’s best players. He showed signs of those accolades scoring 41 against Samford, but his season stats are much worse. He does averages over 20 a game, but is shooting 36% from the field and 25% from 3. He will still probably drop 20-25 tomorrow night, but the missed shots can’t be overlooked. Past Neal, no scorers really jump out of the screen.

Towson’s glass-cleaners are Winstonn Tubbs(8.3 per) and Dennard Abraham(7.3). Tubbs averages over 7 points per game also, and sports a solid shooting percentage of 44%. Abrahams, however, is shooting 27% from the floor and is a non-factor on offense.

Tim Crossin has dished out the most assists this year with 18, and shoots 48% from the floor. Juco-transfer(I believe) CC Williams has 17 assists on the year, and gets solid minutes at point. Tommy Breaux is the other accurate shooter on the team, shooting a stunning 61% from the field.

This will be a battle of 2 inconsistent teams, and it is nearly impossible to say who will win. Given those circumstances, and the fact I’ll be called a homer if I pick W&M again:

Towson: 61
W&M:60