Florida escapes with win over Towson

Kerry Blackshear’s go-ahead inside layup with 1:05 left in the second half proved the difference for the No. 15 Florida men’s basketball team over Towson in a 66-60 win Thursday night at Exactech Arena.

Freshman swingman Scottie Lewis gave the Gators (2-1) a huge boost offensively in scoring 13 of his team-high 15 points in the second half.

Blackshear, a graduate student who transferred to UF from Virginia Tech, notched his third double-double in as many games in a Gators uniform with 13 points and 13 rebounds.

The Gators struggled to pull away for most of the night and were locked in a 60-60 tie with 2:15 remaining after the 17-point underdog Tigers’ Juwan Gray canned a 3.

But Blackshear’s bucket off an Andrew Nembhard entry pass gave UF a two-point lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

Nembhard, who finished with 11 point and nine assists, rebounded a Towson (2-2) miss and hit two free throws to put UF up 64-60 and Lewis made two free throws to settle the outcome.

After shooting 2-for-12 in the first half from beyond the arc, the Gators fared better in the second half by hitting 5-of-10 from 3. Still, Florida will be looking to shoot better than the 31.8 percent it nailed for the game.

The Gators were outrebounded, outshot and at times even outhustled during the first half, but salvaged a 30-30 halftime score after a putback dunk by freshman forward Omar Payne off a Blackshear miss and a nifty drive to the basket by Nembhard after splitting a defensive switch accounted for the last four points of the half.

UF led early, nudging ahead 13-10 but Towson went on a 9-0 spurt that forced coach Mike White to call a timeout and get the young Gators settled.

A starting lineup that boasted two true freshman and two sophomores shot just 38 percent (12-for-32) from the field and 2-for-12 from three-point land to continue its early season shooting woes.

Keyontae Johnson and Blackshear each had eight points in the first half while Blackshear had seven of the Gators’ 15 team rebounds in the first 20 minutes.

The Gators play at UConn at 3 p.m. Sunday.

No. 15 FLORIDA 66, TOWSON 60

TOWSON (2-1)

Thompson 2-2 0-0 4, Tunstall 2-3 0-0 5, Betrand 5-9 2-2 14, Fobbs 4-11 4-5 12, Dottin 4-6 0-0 10, Gray 3-6 0-0 7, Sanders 1-4 5-7 7, Gibson 0-7 1-2 1. Totals 21-48 12-16 60.

FLORIDA (2-1)

Blackshear 4-14 5-6 13, Johnson 3-8 0-0 8, Nembhard 3-7 4-4 11, Lewis 5-8 3-5 15, Mann 2-7 1-4 6, Payne 4-4 0-1 8, Jitoboh 1-1 0-0 2, Glover 0-1 0-0 0, Locke 1-5 0-0 3. Totals 23-55 13-20 66.

Halftime_30-30. 3-Point Goals_Towson 6-19 (Dottin 2-3, Betrand 2-4, Gray 1-2, Tunstall 1-2, Gibson 0-2, Fobbs 0-6), Florida 7-22 (Johnson 2-4, Lewis 2-4, Nembhard 1-2, Locke 1-2, Mann 1-5, Glover 0-1, Blackshear 0-4). Fouled Out_None. Rebounds_Towson 29 (Sanders 6), Florida 27 (Blackshear 13). Assists_Towson 10 (Dottin 4), Florida 13 (Nembhard 9). Total Fouls_Towson 20, Florida 13.

Who: Florida at UConn

When: 3 p.m.

TV: ESPN

Radio: 103.7-FM

Sunday