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No. 23 Virginia hangs on to beat Towson

Dec 31, 2011 - 5:45 AM Charlottesville, VA (Sports Network) - Sammy Zeglinski scored a game-high 20 points and No. 23 Virginia escaped with a 57-50 win over Towson on Friday.

Joe Harris added 17 points and pulled down seven rebounds, while Malcolm Brogdon had nine points for the Cavaliers (12-1), who have won 10 straight.

Kris Walden scored 15 and Marcus Damas chipped in 13 points for the Tigers (0-13), who have lost 32 straight dating back to last season.

"The truth is, I would be okay if we went 0-32 and we defend like that," Towson coach Pat Skerry said. "The reality is, we won't go 0-32 if we defend like that."

Towson trailed by just four with 30 seconds left after Damas drained a three, but made only one more basket as Virginia made 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch.

"Well they did a nice job, Towson did. They hit some tough shots late and they were very patient and they ran the clock and then made some plays off the flat ball screen, guys made some plays inside," Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. "They certainly executed better and when we got a lead to six or eight they'd come up with an offensive rebound or we'd fumble it out of our hands. Certainly a credit to them, they played hard and you could see it."

The Tigers jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the first half, but the Cavaliers chipped away at the deficit, tying the game at 11-11 when Brogdon grabbed a rebound and went the length of the floor for a layup with just under eight minutes to play.

UVA closed out the half with a 13-5 run, highlighted by a Zeglinski trey with a little over a minute left. Harris made one in the final seconds as the Cavaliers took a 24-16 lead into the break.

The Tigers pulled within 33-32 with 13 minutes to play, but Virginia followed with an 11-4 run. Towson fought back, and a Robert Nwankwo free throw had the Tigers back within two at the 5:40 mark.

Game Notes

Virginia is 5-0 all-time against Towson...The Cavaliers shot just 34.8 percent from the field...Towson will look for its first win Monday when it hosts Northeastern...The Tigers were 5-for-18 from beyond the arc...Towson's last win was December 29, 2010, when it beat LaSalle by a 93-90 score in overtime...Virginia will travel to LSU on Monday before opening up its ACC schedule January 7 vs. Miami.