Femi Odukale made a tie-breaking 3-point basket with just over two minutes remaining and Pittsburgh’s defense did most of the rest in a 63-59 victory against visiting Towson on Friday.
Nate Santos scored 14 points as Pittsburgh (2-2) won its second game in a row. Daniel Oladapo finished with 11 points.
Cameron Holden’s 25 points and Nicolas Timberlake’s 12 points paced Towson (2-2), which went cold shooting in the second half and finished at 36.2 percent from the field in the game.
After Odukale’s 3-pointer with 2:23 remaining, neither team scored again until Odukale made the first of two free throws with 59 seconds remaining for a 59-55 lead. Those were his only four points of the game.
Chase Paar countered with a basket for Towson to pull within 59-57 before Santos hit two free throws with 27 seconds left.
By the time Holden scored for Towson, following an offensive rebound, only three seconds remained and the Tigers trailed 61-59.
Jamarius Burton gave the Panthers a boost off the bench with 11 points. He scored six of Pittsburgh’s 12 points during a second-half stretch as the Panthers prevented Towson from extending what was a seven-point lead early in the second half.
Holden’s jumper boosted Towson to a 37-30 lead with 16:51 to play and had 20 of Towson’s first 44 points.
Holden scored 13 first-half points as Towson led 29-26 at halftime on his 3-pointer in the waning seconds.
The Tigers scored nine straight points during one late second-half stretch as the Panthers went into a shooting slump. Towson would have been in better shape if not 5-for-11 shooting on free throws in the opening 20 minutes
Pittsburgh shot 32 percent from the field in the opening half and committed seven turnovers. The Panthers were 3 of 11 on 3s in the half, with Santos accounting for all three makes.
Both of Pittsburgh’s victories have come against Colonial Athletic Association teams after topping UNC Wilmington on Tuesday night.
–Field Level Media
