BOSTON – Senior forward Youri Fritz and freshman forward Ty Francis became the latest Huskies to fall to the injury bug (really an injury epidemic, at this point) as Towson got off the conference schnide by virtue of a win over Northeastern.
Head coach Pat Skerry’s team entered the season as conference favorites after retaining Tyler Tejada and Dylan Williamson, the two stars behind last year’s 16-2 CAA mark. This year, though, the Tigers have struggled mightily, slogging through an up-and-down non-conference slate before dropping each of their first four in-conference contests. The main reason? Towson’s offense entered Saturday’s contest in the nation’s bottom-third efficiency-wise, mostly due to a three-point mark of 26.3% that ranked 363rd of 365.
Both the three-point shooting and the offense clicked into gear on Saturday, feasting on a maligned and hobbled Northeastern defense that simply had no answer for the Tigers. Williamson led the way with 22 points, bouncing back after a grisly 2-for-18 shooting performance on Thursday in a loss to Hofstra.
Early on, it didn’t have the makings of a Towson offensive romp. The Tigers started 1-of-4 from the field and committed six turnovers as Northeastern jumped out to a 14-2 lead despite Fritz’s early departure. In a flash, though, the Tigers responded with an 11-0 run spurred on by sparkplug play from freshman wing Jaquan Womack. Towson would take the lead moments later through Tejada, who stuck home a layup to make it 20-19.
Northeastern wouldn’t see another lead. Senior forward Tyler Coleman made back-to-back layups, and even when the Huskies sliced the lead to two later in the period, a Towson 10-2 run to finish the half stretched the lead back to 10 at 42-32. Francis exited the game for Northeastern somewhere along the way, appearing to suffer a lower left leg injury.
The second half was more of the same, really. With the Huskies so shorthanded — in addition to Saturday’s carnage, opening day starters LA Pratt, Miles Newton, and Xander Alarie are all done for the season — the Tigers began to take advantage, pushing the lead to as many as 22 with 10:59 to go in the period. Northeastern didn’t go quietly — in fact, they managed to whittle that lead down to just six with 2:05 to play — but the outcome of this one was never really in doubt. Much like Thursday’s contest against UNCW, Towson remained composed down the stretch to secure an 87-78 victory.
That Northeastern made it close was impressive in its own right. Towson shot 61% from the floor, 50% from three, and secured 13 offensive rebounds — numbers that would result in a blowout most nights. But, as they’ve done throughout the majority of the season, the Huskies stayed in it on the offensive end and applied pressure against a very good Towson defense.
That offensive charge came from two places: for starters, Northeastern scored 28 points off 16 Towson turnovers, mostly coming via transition layups. Additionally, junior guard William Kermoury set a career-high with 28 points, knocking down 9-of-16 shots to go with five rebounds and five assists.
“[Kermoury] is a competitor,” said Coen. “He knew he had to step up given the circumstances… I’m always more surprised when he misses [shots] than when he makes.”
Overall, the Huskies put up another valiant effort in the face of adversity, competing with the preseason favorites even without the services of five of their more important players. There are no moral victories in CAA play, but the result was nothing to hang their heads at.
“I was proud of our effort, under really difficult circumstances,” said Coen. “We continued to play hard, play together… we just ran into too much of a physical disadvantage.”
Fritz and Francis both returned to the bench after suffering their respective injuries, but neither ever looked likely to check back in. Francis returned from the locker room at halftime in a walking boot, and although Fritz seemed to be walking okay, he finished the day in a compression sleeve.
Fritz’s injury came just two minutes in, appearing to occur on a non-contact play. The senior forward withstood an injury to that same knee on Thursday against UNCW, but returned to action in that game just moments after getting it checked out on the bench. Both players will undergo tests ahead of Thursday’s contest with Elon.
Northeastern returns to action on Thursday, when Elon comes to town for an early-season rematch. Max Schwartzberg, Jordan Walsh, and Emma Shkurti will have your call, with tip set for 7 p.m.
Jacob Phillips is the Sports Director for WRBB Sports. He’s been covering Northeastern athletics for over two years, focusing primarily on men’s basketball. Follow him on Twitter here and Instagram here. He also writes for Mid-Major Madness, and you can find his work here.