It took 11 years, but Towson and Navy agreed to meet in men?s basketball. Navy will host Towson at Alumni Hall on Nov. 29 to mark the teams? first meeting since Towson posted a 76-68 victory in 1996. It was Towson sixth win over Towson in seven meetings.
Towson Coach Pat Kennedy said the schools decided to renew the match-up because the area needs to capitalize on local rivalries, as the schools? close proximity will likely lead to a large crowd.
“You take a look at the local basketball scene with teams like Loyola in the [Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference], Navy in the Patriot League and us in the [Colonial Athletic Association] and you have a number of teams playing in some real up-and-coming conferences,” Kennedy said. “There aren’t too many open dates available on the schedule when you have to play so many conference games, so it’s important for us to have at least two local schools on the schedule each year.”
Kennedy and Navy head coach Billy Lange?s tenure are very similar, as both arrived at their respective schools prior to the 2004-05 season with hopes of reversing the fortunes of two once successful programs.
Towson has not had a winning record since 1996 and has not made the NCAA tournament since 1991. Navy has not posted a winning record since 2001 and qualified for the NCAA tournament since 1998.
However, both teams have made progress. After winning just five games in 2004-05, Towson went 12-18 in 2005-06 and went 15-17 last year ? it?s highest win total in 11 years.
Navy went 10-18 in each of Lange?s first two years in Annapolis before going 14-16 last season, the most victories by a Midshipmen team since going 19-12 in 2000-01.
“Towson is a good program with a great coach in Pat Kennedy and whenever we can make it work to get on our schedule we will,” Lange said. “This is a great way to generate a lot of local interests for both programs.”
