Towson men's basketball falls to Santa Clara 89-70 in season opener

The Towson Tigers opened their season with an 89-70 loss at Santa Clara on Monday night at the Leavey Center. The Broncos improved to 1-0, while Towson fell to 0-1.

Santa Clara led 43-35 at halftime and outscored Towson 46-35 in the second half. The Broncos' largest lead was 20 points, and Towson's was 2.

Shooting made the difference

Santa Clara shot 28-of-62 from the field (45 percent) and made 14 of 33 three-pointers (42 percent). Towson shot 23-of-63 (37 percent) and went 7-of-25 from deep (28 percent). The Broncos also made 19 of 22 free throws, while the Tigers hit 17 of 28.

Santa Clara had 21 assists to Towson's 10 and scored 15 points off turnovers to the Tigers' 6. The Broncos also had a 14-9 edge in fast-break points.

Womack leads Towson

Jaquan Womack had 15 points and 12 rebounds, seven of them offensive, to lead the Tigers. Zion Stanford also scored 15 on 4-of-14 shooting and went 6-of-6 at the line. Jon Barton added 10 points off the bench, and Christian Doerr had seven points and a team-high four assists. Chike Ndefo grabbed eight rebounds.

Towson outrebounded Santa Clara 41-38 and had 18 offensive rebounds to the Broncos' 11. Points in the paint were close, with Santa Clara ahead 28-26.

Broncos spread the scoring

Brad Longcor III led Santa Clara with 18 points, shooting 5-of-9 and making all five of his free throws. Sash Gavalyugov scored 17, including four three-pointers. David Castillo had 14 off the bench, all on three-pointers and free throws. Fedor Zugic and Elijah Mahi each had 11, and Chris Tadjo had 10 points, a team-high seven rebounds and three blocks. Mahi also had four assists and three steals.

Attendance was 1,093.

Up next

Towson plays at Utah on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026, at 9:00 p.m. ET.