TOWSON, Md. (Interstat) — In a grinding Colonial Athletic Association contest defined more by defensive stands and missed opportunities than offensive artistry, the Towson Tigers edged the Elon Phoenix 58-56 on Thursday night at SECU Arena. The victory, secured by a Jack Doumbia driving layup with 14 seconds remaining, pushed Towson above .500 for the season at 15-14 while dropping Elon to 14-15.

The final sequence encapsulated a tense, back-and-forth second half. With the score knotted at 56, Towson called a full timeout with 33 seconds to play. Out of the huddle, the ball found Doumbia on the left wing. The 6-foot-6 sophomore from Lanham, Maryland, drove hard past his defender and finished a contested layup to put the Tigers ahead by two. Elon had one final chance, but Bryson Cokley’s heavily contested three-point attempt from the top of the key as time expired missed off the rim, sealing the Towson win before a crowd of 2,599.

The game’s most crucial phase was a prolonged stretch of defensive dominance by both teams in the final five minutes. After a Chandler Cuthrell free throw tied the game at 54 for Elon with 4:33 to play, the next eight combined possessions resulted in five turnovers, two missed shots, and a single made basket — Tyler Coleman’s dunk off a Doumbia assist that gave Towson a 56-54 lead with 3:36 left. Elon’s Kacper Klaczek then hit two free throws to tie it again at 56 with 2:23 remaining, setting the stage for the defensive standstill and Doumbia’s late heroics.

Neither team found a consistent offensive rhythm. Towson built its largest lead of the first half at 26-18 before Elon closed the period on a 4-0 run to trail 26-22 at the break. The Phoenix carried that momentum into the second half, opening with an 11-2 run, capped by an Isaac Harrell three-pointer, to take a 33-28 lead. The Tigers responded with their own 7-0 spurt, and the remainder of the game featured seven ties and six lead changes, with neither team leading by more than five points.

Doumbia led Towson with 13 points, five assists and a critical late steal, providing a steadying influence in 23 minutes off the bench. Tyler Coleman, a 6-foot-7 forward from Woodbridge, Virginia, was a force inside, scoring a game-high 17 points. Point guard Tyler Tejada of Teaneck, New Jersey, orchestrated the offense with seven assists and six points over 38 minutes. Ryan Conway added 11 points for the Tigers.

Elon was led by a balanced effort. Chandler Cuthrell, a Baltimore native playing in his home region, scored 13 points and recorded two blocks. Kacper Klaczek of Chorzow, Poland, and Bryson Cokley of Whiteville, North Carolina, each added 12 points. The Phoenix struggled to protect the ball, committing turnovers that led to 15 Towson points, a critical margin in a two-point game.

The result continued a trend of close contests for both teams in CAA play and avenged Towson’s prior victory over Elon just over a month earlier on Jan. 22. According to pregame analytics from Interstat, Towson was projected with an 81.9% probability to win and was installed as a six-point favorite. The combined score of 114 fell well under the over/under line of 143.5, highlighting the defensive struggle.

With the win, Towson looks ahead to hosting Campbell on Saturday. Elon, meanwhile, will aim to regroup quickly for a road game at Monmouth on Saturday. Both teams continue to jockey for position in the tightly packed CAA standings with the conference tournament looming.