Towson at East Tennessee State, 7:00 PM Eastern, watchcollegeinsider.com
The CIT’s second round tips off tonight with a single game, the CAA’s Towson Tigers heading to Johnson City, Tennessee to take on the East Tennessee State Buccaneers, a team that is finishing its final campaign in the Atlantic Sun before returning to the Southern Conference next season.
Towson was 23-10 overall and 13-3 in conference this season, finishing in second place behind CAA tournament champion Delaware, though falling in the tournament semifinals to William & Mary. Pat Skerry’s team has been one of the most amazing turnaround stories in athletics the past couple of years. The Tigers, just two short years ago, went 1-31 on the season and won the HoopsHD Centenary Award for being the worst team in Division I. Tonight they are looking for their second win in the CIT which would bring their total to 25 overall — a 24 game improvement over just two years ago. While the NCAA tournament bid eluded the Tigers this year, the future continues to look amazingly bright for this program.
ETSU entered the CIT this season with an overall record of 18-15. Their 10-8 conference mark was good enough for a fourth place tie in the A-Sun. They also played in one of the most exciting conference tournament games this season, a double overtime quarterfinal win over Lipscomb, before losing to Florida Gulf Coast in the semifinals. Continuing to win and advance through the CIT this season will certainly give this program momentum as it moves to the SoCon next year — and with a good number of their key players returning, there is no reason the Bucs will not be able to contend for an NCAA bid next year.