Ecc Tournament

Towson State continued its dash to the finish line yesterday by charging past Central Connecticut, 94-70, in an East Coast Conference basketball mismatch at the Towson Center.The Towson State run has reached six straight victories, prompting talk of a possible bid to the National Invitation Tournament if the Tigers keep winning."I believe we will get an NIT bid if we finish 18-12," said Towson coach Terry Truax after the romp past the Blue Devils. "The NIT people haven't contacted us, but I'm sure we'll be receiving a questionnaire to fill out at the end of the season from them."

Its Division I legacy is rather skimpy, one reason radio announcers were dropping the location yesterday, telling audiences that Maryland had made the NCAA baseball tournament.The pairings show on ESPN mispronounced the coach's name, but UMBC's John Jancuska knows the Retrievers have a reputation with the only critics that mattered -- the NCAA selection committee.For the record, the University of Maryland Baltimore County was oneof 24 at-large teams selected to the 48-team NCAA field. The Retrievers will play Friday at Miami (49-7)

Although it doesn't always work the way they want, college coaches spend their lives trying to couple recruiting and winning. Success in one often leads to success in the other.Towson State baseball coach Mike Gottlieb has spent the past two weeks savoring winning and chasing the future, but this afternoon, he goes back to coaching. The Tigers will face Mississippi State in the opening round of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Northeast Regional tournament at Orono, Maine.The winning was a surprising three-game sweep of the East Coast Conference tournament and its accompanying NCAA bid. won it, but don't ask me how," Gottlieb says now. As for the recruiting, he sees no secret to it. "You get players with talent and then hope they play as well as they are capable.

When Rider beat Towson State by two points a little more than a week ago, it cost the Tigers a share of the East Coast Conference regular-season title, a perfect home season and probably any outside chance the team had of postseason play."

When Rider beat Towson State by two points a little more than a week ago, it cost the Tigers a share of the East Coast Conference regular-season title, a perfect home season and probably any outside chance the team had of postseason play."

Nobody knows the trouble UMBC's basketball team saw this season. Except for coach Earl Hawkins, that is, and his battle-scarred Retrievers. But that's all behind them.The Retrievers recovered from a season-long siege of injuries to win one game and a lot of respect in the East Coast Conference tournament at the Towson Center over the weekend. They sprung a 67-58 upset of Hofstra Saturday, then pressed defending champion Towson State to the final seconds before succumbing, 78-76. They finished the season at 7-22.

Towson State's undisputed reign in the East Coast Conference ended yesterday.The Tigers, for the past two seasons the ECC regular-season and tournament champions, had to settle for a second-place tie after losing to Rider, 79-78, before a crowd of 2,042 at the Towson Center.Hofstra claimed the top spot in the conference standings and No. 1 seeding in the ECC tournament this weekend with its 103-87 victory at UMBC last night.The loss was the second straight for Towson (14-13, 9-3), which just a week ago was riding a 10-game winning streak and dreaming of postseason play.

When Rider beat Towson State by two points a little more than a week ago, it cost the Tigers a share of the East Coast Conference regular-season title, a perfect home season and probably any outside chance the team had of postseason play."

Its Division I legacy is rather skimpy, one reason radio announcers were dropping the location yesterday, telling audiences that Maryland had made the NCAA baseball tournament.The pairings show on ESPN mispronounced the coach's name, but UMBC's John Jancuska knows the Retrievers have a reputation with the only critics that mattered -- the NCAA selection committee.For the record, the University of Maryland Baltimore County was oneof 24 at-large teams selected to the 48-team NCAA field. The Retrievers will play Friday at Miami (49-7)

The East Coast Conference will be in the awkward position next month of having its men's postseason basketball tournament hosted by a member that wants out. Even though the Towson State administration is going ahead with plans to enter the North Atlantic Conference, the ECC tournament still will be held at the Towson Center March 2, 3 and 5.The Tigers, currently 9-0 in the league, will be seeking their second straight ECC title. They need just one more conference victory in three tries to wrap up the regular-season title and a first-round bye in the tournament.

When Rider beat Towson State by two points a little more than a week ago, it cost the Tigers a share of the East Coast Conference regular-season title, a perfect home season and probably any outside chance the team had of postseason play."

In the week leading up to the East Coast Conference tournament, Towson State coach Terry Truax kept saying that he'd prefer an opening-round game over a bye. It turns out that Truax got his wish -- and his Tigers still had what amounted to a bye.There's really no other way to explain Towson's record-setting, 122-58 win yesterday that ended a two-game losing streak and advanced the Tigers (15-13) to today's semifinals against Rider. Playing against an out manned Buffalo team in its first season of Division I, the Tigers scored the most points in school history -- and produced the widest margin of victory in an ECC tournament game.

Numerous membership changes over the past two years mean that the East Coast Conference basketball champion won't be going to the NCAA tournament. The ECC will remain in good standing with the NCAA baseball committee through June, however, and Towson State and UMBC can be excused if they begin the season with visions of postseason play.The Tigers won the ECC tournament and went to the NCAAs in 1988 and '91. Coach Mike Gottlieb brought back six regulars and two of his best starting pitchers from last year's team, which was eliminated by Maine in the Northeast Regional.

Towson State's undisputed reign in the East Coast Conference ended yesterday.The Tigers, for the past two seasons the ECC regular-season and tournament champions, had to settle for a second-place tie after losing to Rider, 79-78, before a crowd of 2,042 at the Towson Center.Hofstra claimed the top spot in the conference standings and No. 1 seeding in the ECC tournament this weekend with its 103-87 victory at UMBC last night.The loss was the second straight for Towson (14-13, 9-3), which just a week ago was riding a 10-game winning streak and dreaming of postseason play.

Towson State continued its dash to the finish line yesterday by charging past Central Connecticut, 94-70, in an East Coast Conference basketball mismatch at the Towson Center.The Towson State run has reached six straight victories, prompting talk of a possible bid to the National Invitation Tournament if the Tigers keep winning."I believe we will get an NIT bid if we finish 18-12," said Towson coach Terry Truax after the romp past the Blue Devils. "The NIT people haven't contacted us, but I'm sure we'll be receiving a questionnaire to fill out at the end of the season from them."

Although it doesn't always work the way they want, college coaches spend their lives trying to couple recruiting and winning. Success in one often leads to success in the other.Towson State baseball coach Mike Gottlieb has spent the past two weeks savoring winning and chasing the future, but this afternoon, he goes back to coaching. The Tigers will face Mississippi State in the opening round of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Northeast Regional tournament at Orono, Maine.The winning was a surprising three-game sweep of the East Coast Conference tournament and its accompanying NCAA bid. won it, but don't ask me how," Gottlieb says now. As for the recruiting, he sees no secret to it. "You get players with talent and then hope they play as well as they are capable.

The University of Maryland Baltimore County basketball team ended the regular season with a four-game winning streak after posting only two victories in the first three months of the season.But no one was jumping for joy in the Retrievers' locker room last night after they sleepwalked to a 76-62 win over the Division II University of Buffalo at UMBC Fieldhouse.UMBC, which will meet Hofstra Saturday at 2 p.m. in an opening-round game in the ECC tournament at the Towson Center, was coming off three straight impressive East Coast Conference performances, and the Bulls were supposed to provide the Retrievers (6-21)

In the week leading up to the East Coast Conference tournament, Towson State coach Terry Truax kept saying that he'd prefer an opening-round game over a bye. It turns out that Truax got his wish -- and his Tigers still had what amounted to a bye.There's really no other way to explain Towson's record-setting, 122-58 win yesterday that ended a two-game losing streak and advanced the Tigers (15-13) to today's semifinals against Rider. Playing against an out manned Buffalo team in its first season of Division I, the Tigers scored the most points in school history -- and produced the widest margin of victory in an ECC tournament game.

Towson, UMBC to meet in baseball semifinalsFreshman center fielder Steve Farling had five hits, including three home runs, and drove in a tournament-record-tying eight runs to lead third-seeded Towson State (25-21-1) to a 25-5 victory over second-seeded Delaware (32-7) in the first round of the East Coast Conference baseball tournament in West Windsor, N.J.The Tigers broke the game open in the fifth inning when they scored 12 runs, sending 15 batters to the plate. Freshman designated hitter Alex Yost hit his first two college homers in the inning, tying a National Collegiate Athletic Association record.

Matt Campbell isn't the key to the success of the Towson State University men's basketball team this season, but the freshman has helped turn the knob to the door of the NCAA basketball tournament.Tomorrow night, the Broadneck graduate and his fellow Tigers will try to become the first team in NCAA tournament history to knock off a No. 1 seed in the opening round when they meet Ohio State (25-3) in a Midwest regional contest at the Dayton Arena in Ohio."I never expected anything like this," said Campbell.