Zone Defense

Despite leading by 18 points with just under 11 minutes to play in its America East opener against Maine, Towson men's basketball coach Mike Jaskulski was not at all comfortable. "You always know somewhere along the line that it was not going to be that easy," Jaskulski said. "They are too good to make it easy." Jaskulski was right as the Black Bears engineered a 16-1 run to cut the Towson lead to 59-56 with 5 1/2 minutes to play. But that would be as close as Maine would get as the Tigers held on last night for a 72-67 victory at Towson Center.

Zone defense is the flavor of the month. What was once thought to be a "less macho" approach is being used by Top 20 teams. Teams who have historically utilized man-to-man schemes have showcased zone defense this spring. North Carolina shut down Maryland for three quarters with a zone defense and won. Expect Johns Hopkins to copy the Tar Heels' strategy and give the Terps a dosage of zone. Georgetown nearly upset Syracuse with a zone. Princeton, Hopkins, Syracuse and even Virginia are playing zone defense in 2011.

Can Maryland contain California's outside game? The Golden Bears shoot 43.4 percent on three-point tries, the best in NCAA Division I. The Terps, who periodically used zone defense against larger teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, will likely come out in man-to-man and emphasize guarding the perimeter. On offense, Maryland is always better when it can consistently get scoring from somebody besides Greivis Vasquez, its leader. key matchup Jerome Randle, Cal's junior point guard, vs. Maryland's defense.

It was just two weeks ago that the Dunbar boys basketball team finally settled on its starting lineup. All the while, the No. 3 Poets, defending Baltimore City and three-time Class 1A state champions, have found different ways to win. On the road against No. 8 Poly in a showdown of unbeaten league teams, Dunbar mostly relied on a tough zone defense and poised play in the closing minutes for a 55-43 victory. Senior guards Daxter Miles (15 points) and Kamau Stokes (12) led the offense, and the defensive scheme frustrated the Engineers most of the way. The Poets improved to 11-1 overall and 5-0 in Baltimore City's Division I, while Poly, which got a game-high 19 points from forward Darrion Stokes-Graham, is now 11-3 and 4-1 in league play.

For a first-year coach, Phil Stephenson sounded pretty cocky. The Oakland Mills Scorpions had yet to play a game and had not experienced a winning season in three years. Yet Stephenson predicted they would play in the state tournament."We had a group of kids who I knew were good lacrosse players, but they hadn't reached their potential. They had been struggling to gain respect," Stephenson said. "I wanted to challenge them early. I was either going to look like a genius or an idiot."Stephenson's statement turned out to be prophetic.

BEIJING - With the U.S. men's basketball team determined not to overlook anybody, what can the Americans come up with for tonight's opponent, Angola? How about, they don't discourage easily? With all the reversals the U.S. has suffered in recent international competition, there was always some team it could beat, not to mention beat on. The Dream Team made its debut against Angola in Barcelona in 1992, winning, 116-48, although the 68-point victory margin isn't what it's remembered for. Nor was it because of the 46-1 run the U.S. went on with the score tied, 7-7, making it 53-8.

STORRS, Conn. -- The Colorado State Rams tied a school best and set an NCAA tournament East Regional record by making 14 three-pointers in an 83-69 victory over Maryland last night in a first-round game. It was a battle of three-pointers vs. two-pointers, as Maryland (17-12) couldn't keep up with the blistering pace set by the Rams' perimeter offense. Colorado State (25-6) built a 60-45 lead with a key 18-7 run a few minutes into the second half. Four different Rams players made three-pointers during the stretch.

LARGO - The last time a Baltimore-area team captured the prestigious IAABO Holiday Girls Basketball Tournament, now in its 39th year, was 13 years ago. Aberdeen changed that Wednesday night - and did so rather decisively in the championship game against Wise from Upper Marlboro. In a title game featuring undefeated teams, the No. 1 Eagles proved far dominant at both ends of the floor, rolling to an 82-44 win at Prince George's Community College. Senior center Brionna Jones, who was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player, led an efficient offense with 30 points, and a trapping zone defense was too much for the Pumas (7-1)

It was a move Loyola coach Dave Cottle was forced to make.Dealing with an early-season injury to one of his expected top goal scorers and inexperience on the attack, Cottle had to shift senior Brian Duffy from midfield to his accustomed attackman slot.It took less than 10 minutes yesterday for Cottle to see the impact of that adjustment.Duffy supplied all of his scoring in the first half, netting four goals and adding two assists to jump-start No. 8 Loyola to a 17-8 HTC trampling of No. 12 Hofstra at Curley Field.

Wilde Lake's 63-62 victory over visiting Howard last night keeps the playoff-bound Wildecats atop the Howard County-league standings heading into tonight's showdown with 14th-ranked Mount Hebron.Wilde Lake senior Seth Willingham led the Wildecats with 18 points -- 12 in the first half -- while Howard senior and leading scorer Javier Michaux (21.6) tallied 23 points and 13 rebounds.Wilde Lake (11-9, 9-4), after having traded the lead with Howard a half-dozen times in the second half, trailed throughout the fourth quarter until senior Malik Jackson (10 points)