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Maryland Basketball: Terps Crawl Past Towson

By Wesley Brown

Nov 15, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; Maryland Terrapins forward Justin Jackson (21) reacts after making a three point shot during the second half against the Georgetown Hoyas at Verizon Center. Maryland Terrapins defeated Georgetown Hoyas 76-75. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 15, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; Maryland Terrapins forward Justin Jackson (21) reacts after making a three point shot during the second half against the Georgetown Hoyas at Verizon Center. Maryland Terrapins defeated Georgetown Hoyas 76-75. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports /
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It certainly wasn’t an easy Sunday afternoon tilt for the Maryland basketball team.

It took a pair of late free throws from Melo Trimble and Kevin Huerter to close out a 71-66 win over Towson.

Trimble scored a game-high 27 points to go along with six rebounds and four assists. Freshman Justin Jackson also helped carry the load for the Terrapins as he scored 21 points (8-of-13 shooting) and grabbed four rebounds.

Maryland hosted Towson for their third game in just 5 days. The Terps learned before the game that they would be without guard Dion Wiley due to a stomach virus.

Maryland probably could have used his body, especially in the first half of this one as Towson gave the Terps all they had.

The Tigers opened up the game by bullying Maryland on the glass to keep pace with the Terps. In the first half alone, Towson led Maryland 28-13 in rebounds, with 13 coming on the offensive end.

The offensive rebounds only led to four second chance points, but that would be the difference at the half.

Towson also went 8-of-88 at the charity stripe, and shot nearly 67 percent from deep to go along with those rebounds. Their lead of 34-30 at the half impressed just about anyone who was watching, but it wasn’t a surprise.

The Tigers came into this game 2-0 with wins over George Mason and Morgan State.

Maryland really showed their endurance towards the end as Trimble and Jackson led the Terps on a 10-1 run after finding themselves down 13 with just over 13 minutes remaining.

The Tigers also didn’t help themselves by shooting just under 47 percent from the line and 11.1 percent from deep in the second half. The atmosphere really picked up after that run, and Towson could not combat it.

Towson head coach Pat Skerry, a Boston native, said after the game that Trimble reminded him of former New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera by being “The Ultimate Closer”. Trimble when told this responded with, “I’m not sure what that means”, but it is a pretty huge compliment.

Trimble may have not shot the ball well overall, but did hit 16-of-17 free throws at the line, which is a reminder of the freshman Trimble that Maryland fans have been missing. Jackson also put another great performance together as he went 5-of-7 from beyond the arc.

Skerry also added that it wont be too long before Maryland fans should see Jackson as a permanent starter, due to his size and shooting really stretching teams out. Turgeon added to Jackson by saying “Justin was here like two and a half hours after practice yesterday shooting.”

Jackson has to have Maryland fans excited with the way he is playing. His 7’3 wingspan and ability to light up teams from deep gives the Terps something they did not expect to have after losing all but one of their starters from last year.

Next: Three takeaways from the Nebraska loss

Maryland will play their fifth contest in just nine days as they host Stony Brook on Tuesday evening for a 7 p.m. tip.