COLLEGE

College basketball: Towson edges out Georgia Southern to win Gulf Coast Showcase title

Miguel Rodriguez
Naples
Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

The Towson men's basketball team fought off multiple runs from Georgia Southern throughout the second half, then put together a run of its own to overcome the Eagles 70-67 and claim the Gulf Coast Showcase men's basketball title on Wednesday night at Germain Arena.

"It got hairy for a while and a lot of that has to do with Georgia Southern's talent," Towson coach Pat Skerry said. "We pride our guys on being Towson Tough and I thought we showed that. When we got down, we didn't buck. We fought back."

Trailing 62-60 with 1:39 left to play after having their 14-point lead erased, Eddie Keith II converted a crucial three-point play to give the Tigers a 63-62 lead.

On the ensuing inbound, Brian Starr came up with a steal and found Mike Morsell to give the Tigers a three-point lead with 43.7 seconds left to go.

Following a couple of trips to the free-throw line where the Tigers just made one free throw, Georgia Southern (5-1) found itself with a chance to send the game to overtime trailing 70-67 with 2.1 seconds left.

FOLLOW THE MADNESS: NCAA tournament brackets, scores, schedules, teams and more.

Jake Allsmiller's attempt from long range hit the right side of the rim and stayed out.

"He was going so well and he was in a good rhythm," Georgia Southern coach Mark Byington said. "We tried to get him a good look but we got him a decent look at the 3-point line."

The Eagles took a 55-52 lead with a 13-0 run after trailing by 14 points in the early going off the first half, 

Allsmiller's 18 points helped the Eagles overcome multiple double-digit deficits.

"Georgia Southern is a really good team and we knew that coming in and they have a lot of good players," Morsell said. "They were really resilient. Every time we made a big run they kept coming back."

Morsell took home the tournament MVP and earned a spot on the all-tournament team, finishing with 16 points. Starr finished with 15 points and joined Morsell on the all-tournament team.

"It feels good," said Morsell about winning tournament MVP. "I really just wanted to come out there, get wins and play defense. I just try and go out there and do the little things."

Skerry said Towson benefited from competing in the Gulf Coast Showcase, defeating Penn and FAU before overcoming Georgia Southern for the title.

"Georgia Southern is a postseason team and we played some good teams in Penn and Florida Atlantic," Skerry said. "This is a big, big time tournament and it benefits you when you try to get to some big things in March."

Northern Illinois 70, Manhattan 68: The seventh-place game came down to the wire as Levi Bradley hit a go-ahead jumper with 15 seconds left to secure the Huskies victory. Bradley ended with 22 points and four rebounds.

Rich Williams finished with 24 points, three rebounds and three assists for the Jaspers.  Manhattan (2-3) turned the ball over three fewer times than Northern Illinois (3-2), but the Huskies took advantage of their extra possessions scoring 23 points off of turnovers.

Missouri State 71, FAU 60: The Bears cruised to an 11-point victory after opening up a 20-point lead following a 10-2 run to start the second half in the fifth-place game.

The Bears (4-2) got the job done on the glass, out-rebounding the Owls 45 to 31. Missouri State held FAU to 36 percent shooting. Jarrid Rhodes and Alize Johnson combined for 28 points for the Bears and Gerdarius Troutman finished with 16 points for FAU (2-3).

Penn 68, UMKC 65: UMKC's Isaiah Ross missed the tying three to send the game to overtime with five seconds left as Penn held on to win the third-place game.  Penn (4-3) led UMKC (2-5) by double digits in each half of play and had a 65-53 lead with less than four minutes to play before the Kangaroos came storming back. 

Max Rothschild scored 16 points to lead five Quakers in double figures.  The tournament's leading scorer, Broderick Robinson, finished with 18 points and knocked down three 3-pointers for UMKC.

Gulf Coast Showcase

at Germain Arena, Estero

Men's bracket

Monday

Game 1 -- UMKC 74,  Manhattan 63; Game 2-- Georgia Southern 74, Missouri State 73; Game 3 -- Penn 90, North Illinois 80;  Game 4 -- Towson 76, FAU 56

Tuesday

Game 5 -- Missouri State 69, Manhattan 65; Game 6 -- FAU 77, Northern Illinois 67; Game 7 -- Georgia Southern 78, UMKC 75; Game 8 -- Towson 79, Penn 71

Wednesday

Game 9 -- Seventh place, Northern Illinois 70, Manhattan 68; Game 10 -- Fifth place, Missouri State 71, FAU 60; Game 11 -- Third place, Penn 68, UMKC 65; Game 12 -- Championship, Towson 70, Georgia Southern 67